The Gypsy's Curse
by Whisperwings
Summary: A Continuation of my other Treasure Planet Story 'The Real treasure in Life'. Alex and Jim have had their happy ending, but for the next generation its a different story.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Jasmine Porch slinked along in the shadows of the small town, trying to be inconspicuous. Her outfit wasn't exactly normal, so she was forced to make a conscious effort to avoid attention. She was wearing a white blouse with a wide collar which sometimes slipped off her shoulders and annoyed her to no extent. A leather corset pulled the loose shirt tight around her waist, laced up the back with a string. A long, flowing, blue skirt swirled as she walked, lacy petticoats peeking out from the just-above-ankle-length material. A black sash tied around her waist, hanging down at an angle, tiny copper coins sewn to hang from the edge so that they gently jingled when she moved. Over it was an orange scarf she'd picked up somewhere. Her hair was long, thick, and flowing in gentle waves. It was pitch black to the point that you couldn't tell it from the shadow Jasmine was crouching in. A scarf tied around her hair, sheer and red, the ends flowing over her left shoulder. Large hoop earrings dangled from her earlobes, faded gold that had lost its shine. She had bracelets made from both leather and gold, along with a gold anklet. Finally, she wore black leather slippers. Bare feet were a dead giveaway that she was a gypsy, as if the outfit wasn't bad enough.

Someone walked by on the street and she kneeled down, pressing herself against the wall. Jasmine wished for a moment that she could go invisible or walk through walls; that would make things so much easier on her. Instead, she was forced to inch her way across the town in the shadows, hiding from everything. But then she grinned. Who was she to complain? She loved this work, and she was the best at it. No one in the troupe was better at getting around unnoticed. She loved the thrills and close calls, she lived off of adrenaline. So she quieted her complaining thoughts and concentrated. This was made difficult by the sudden pain in her head. She reached up and pressed her temple, crouching to the ground and waiting for it to go away. A minute or two later it was gone and she took off again. She was used to the headaches, but they had recently seemed to be getting worse.

Finally she reached the other end of town, and up on a hill was a brightly lit building. It was obviously crowded with people. In fact, it looked like there was a party going on, making it the perfect place for her to go. She went to stand up but ducked again just in time as a couple went by.

"-quite the party I hear. And anyone can come, isn't that wonderful?" one of them said. Jasmine grinned. Anyone could come, eh? Well in that case, she had a party to attend. She stood and walked out into the street as if she'd been there the whole time. She went to the door of the large building and slipped inside.

Warmth spilled over her, and she allowed her shivers to fade away. She walked along the wall, watching guests dance and chat in all corners of the room. As she quietly walked by, she slipped nimble fingers into pockets, taking cash and things that might fetch a good price on the market. A fat old lady was sleeping in a chair, and Jasmine gently opened the clasp on her fancy diamond necklace and slipped it with the rest of her treasures into a secret pocket in her sash. The jingle of the hidden coins and things was masked by the tiny coins hanging off the edges of the sash. She walked around the room, finally spotting a buffet table. Her stomach growled, and she grimaced. Jasmine wasn't supposed to get distracted while on the job, but when the band leader didn't give them enough food while he stuffed himself, it was very hard to concentrate on anything _but_ food. She told herself that she was just trying to blend in, and happily grabbed a finger sandwich. As she munched she felt someone touch her elbow and she jumped in fear.

Gypsies weren't exactly welcomed by the general society. In fact, they were often hunted down or run right out of town. Jasmine herself had often been beaten when she'd been caught, even if she wasn't stealing things at the time. She was the best thief, and rarely got caught while on the job. But other times, when she didn't think she'd needed to hide…that's when the worst things happened. Once she was even arrested, and put into the darkest coldest dungeon for a week, simply because she'd been looking a little too closely at a jewelry stand. So now, she jumped, expecting the worst possible things to happen because of her being here, let alone if she were to be found out about all the stuff she'd stolen. She turned to see who'd caught her, but instead of seeing an angry face she saw a friendly smile. She looked up into the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. She leaned back a bit to see his face. The boy had a warm smile and was very handsome, with sandy blond hair which hung slightly in front of his face.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." The boy said. Jasmine gave him a shaky smile.

"It's alright; I'm pretty jumpy tonight already."

"How come?"

"Um, well, I don't really know anyone here. I just heard there was a party and showed up." She managed to get out. It was a fumbled answer, but the boy seemed to buy it.

"Great! It's the unexpected guests that are the most fun." He said. He held out a hand. "Care to dance?" She giggled and took the offered hand.

As he led her onto the dance floor, Jasmine relaxed. This was her element, being in the spot light. She was an excellent thief and knew how to be forgotten easily, but she loved being the center of attention. That was one of the reasons she was a good gypsy. She danced and tumbled and did most things only a gymnast could do. Now on the dance floor, she let her personality shine. She was confident and beautiful, spinning around wherever the boy led her. He knew what he was doing, it was obvious. Once he realized that she was quite good herself, he smiled happily and the dance became a challenge. He threw her into complicated moves, some of which he made up on the spot. Jasmine on the other hand followed expertly, adding her own flourishes and embellishments. She took on every step and made it partially hers, rather than giving the lead all the glory. Then the dance was over, and the boy dipped her low to the ground, her hair brushing the floor. Then he led her off the floor to the bowl of punch. They each drew a glass and went to sit on a couple of chairs in the corner. As they caught their breath, Jasmine looked around the room at all the happy people. She felt eyes on her and turned to see the boy staring at her.

"What?" she asked as she swallowed.

"Who _are_ you?" he asked, and she blushed.

"My name is Jasmine. Jasmine Porch."

"Are you a gypsy?"

Jasmine blinked in surprise. It wasn't the fact that he knew, she was wearing the complete gypsy attire. It was the matter-of-fact way he'd asked, as if it wasn't a big deal. She stuttered a bit.

"Well….y-yes. Yes I am." She looked down at her lap, waiting for him to get upset.

"That's pretty cool." Was all he said. She looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "What?"

"You…you don't mind?" she asked him.

"Jasmine, I'm friends with pirates. The idea of a gypsy doesn't really faze me." at that Jasmine had to laugh. Pirates were just that way, she had to admit that she completely understood.

"So what's your name?" she asked the boy.

"Charlie Hawkins."

"So why are you here then?"

"My Grandma owns the Inn, her name's Sarah, she's over there with the cat lady. That's Captain Amelia." Jasmine gasped.

"_The_ Captain Amelia?" she asked and he smiled proudly.

"Yup, that's her."

Sarah was still very pretty for being a grandmother. Her hair was almost completely grey, but her face didn't sport all that many wrinkles. Her smile was warm and friendly, and was very similar to Charlie's. That must be where he'd gotten it from. Amelia stood stick straight, much as she probably always had, Jasmine mused. If she wanted to, she order the people in the room to do absolutely anything, and Jasmine had no doubt that everyone would jump to obey. Her hair was streaked with grey as well, but a lot of her original red shown past it and was easy to ignore. A dog-like man joined the ladies, his hair graying at the temples in a sophisticated way. Charlie told her that his name was Delbert Doppler, Amelia's husband. Jasmine was surprised at that. She'd never imagined the famous leader to get married at all, much less to such a scholarly looking fellow.

At that moment a pink blob flew right into Jasmine's shoulder. It jumped back, his eyes rolling dizzily, and Jasmine had to giggle at the adorable sight. He fell and she put out her cupped hands to catch him. Charlie laughed.

"That's Morph, he's a … well, a morph." He explained and she chuckled. Morph shook his head, or rather his entire body, and floated up in front of her face. He tipped a hat that suddenly appeared on his head and said in a tiny voice

"'Scuse me!" She giggled again as he flew off.

"He's kind of a family pet I suppose you'd call him. He belonged to an old friend of the family's, who gave him to my mother for a time. When that old friend came back, Morph went back to his old master."

Charlie then pointed to a couple dancing in the middle of the dance floor. The man was very handsome and looked like an older version of Charlie with brown hair. The woman he was dancing with was very lovely as well, her brown hair hanging in curls down her back. She had green eyes which were looking adoringly into the man's blue ones. Scarlet had seen those blue eyes before and turned to Charlie to see the same eyes looking at her again.

"Your parents?" she asked him. He nodded.

"Jim and Alexandra, although everyone calls her Alex. And over on the other side of room is Maria, my sister. She's the one with bright blond hair in the pink dress." Scarlet looked where he was pointing and saw a pretty girl about her age. But before she could say anything someone made a huge commotion. They turned to see the fat lady who'd been sleeping earlier. Jasmine self consciously put her hand on her sash where the diamond necklace was hidden along with her other treasures. The lady was shouting the words 'It's gone' over and over and Jasmine took the opportunity the distraction provided her to slip away from Charlie. Suddenly, everyone was noticing missing objects. It wouldn't be long before someone noticed the way she was dressed and automatically accused her. Of course, they would be perfectly right in their accusation, but she was still bitter about it. She slipped out the door and ran off into the darkness.

* * *

Charlie watched as people realized that they were missing money, jewelry or pocket watches. There were quite a few. He turned to ask Jasmine if she was missing anything, because he wasn't. But she was gone. He stood and searched the crowd, and realized that she'd left. It must have been her then! He knew he should feel angry or something that the girl had been the thief, but all he felt was glad that Jasmine had gotten away. And oddly…rather proud of her. He decided not to mention her to anyone; he didn't want to get her in trouble.

He had noticed as they danced that she was thin, and the dip he'd done at the end was far too easy. She weighed too little for someone of her height. He didn't think she was getting enough food. The fat old lady was someone no one liked anyway, and she had plenty of diamond necklaces to keep her happy. He figured Jasmine deserved it more, simply because she actually needed it. Not to mention she was a sweet girl. She actually cared about learning who his family was. Usually girls didn't care about meeting them or even knowing who they were. The fact that she cared showed that she'd wanted to know more about him as a person, not just because of his looks. He'd had his fill of girls like that. He wished she hadn't had to leave so early, he wanted to know more about her too. He sat back down and was joined soon by his sister.

Maria was a girl who was liked by everyone. Not because she was popular, but because she was such a kind soul. It was impossible to dislike her, although Charlie had managed to do so on a few occasions.

"It was that girl you danced with wasn't it?" she asked. Now was one of those moments.

"I don't know who you're talking about; I danced with a lot of girls."

"You know exactly who I mean. The girl you _really_ danced with, rather than sway around in circles with. The one in the gypsy outfit. The one you kept staring at while she wasn't looking."

"Oh. That girl."

"Yes that girl." She repeated. "Was she a gypsy?"

"Yeah." Charlie reluctantly admitted. It didn't matter what he said, she knew the truth already. That was the trouble with being twins; they were able to read each other all too easily. He'd get her back for tonight next time she had a crush on someone. Which wouldn't be too long. Maria was rather flighty when it came to boyfriends.

"You're not going to tell anyone, are you." It wasn't a question; she already knew the answer, so he didn't say anything. "I won't tell either." They looked at each other and grinned. One good thing about being twins was that they always kept each other's secrets.

* * *

Jasmine ran quickly back through the town, trusting that no one would notice her in the dark. She had often been compared to a shadow when she didn't want to be seen. It was mostly the band leader who described her as such, for she had snuck away so many times on her own and without permission. His name was Simon Crunch, and he was never happy when she did this, but she always came back before he was angry enough to actually beat her. Other members of the troupe weren't so lucky, and their leader generally considered them expendable. One of the girls in particular, Scarlet Hill. She was brilliant, and happily gobbled up any books they could get their hands on, but Simon didn't think she was any use at all in the group. The only reason he didn't beat her any more than he currently did was because he knew Jasmine would make things very difficult for him if he tried.

They'd found Scarlet shortly after Jasmine had joined the band, chained to a wall in someone's backyard. They'd found out later that her parents had put her there, and only unchained her when they could keep an eye on her, convinced she would run away. They forced her to do all the housework and assumed that she'd take off at her first opportunity. Little did they know that she didn't mind the house work at all, and that she only began wanting to run away after they began chaining her up. The group broke Scarlet loose and invited her to come along with them, and Jasmine had taken her under her wing, caring for her like a little sister. Over time, that's just what they'd become, sharing everything they owned between the two of them, despite how little they had.

Jasmine came back to the present as she entered the canyons past the town. She carefully counted her turns, trying not to get lost. Finally she passed the last turn and started climbing up the rocks along the left canyon wall. A cave came into view a moment later and she scrambled through the opening. She walked bent over for a thankfully short distance until the cave opened up into one large room. It surprised her how large it was every time she came in, none of them could have hoped for a better place to set up their gypsy camp. There were enough natural holes in the roof of the cave that they could have their customary campfire in the center of the circle of tents, so that the smoke could escape and they could have light in their darkest home yet. It was even worse than the weeks they'd spent on Miyron, the planet which never changed between day and night. It was always the same side of the planet which faced the sun, and they'd camped on the dark side which never got any of the natural light or warmth.

Jasmine stretched as she stepped forward, catching her breath once more rather quickly. She was never tired out for long; she'd worked hard to strengthen her endurance. She stepped out of the shadows and walked to where the rest of the troupe was seated around the fire. The first one to notice her was Scarlet. The tiny red head jumped up from her seat shouting Jasmine's name, and ran towards the older girl. In truth, Jasmine was probably only about one year older, but as Scarlet threw her arms around Jasmine's waist, her head only came up to the dancer's chin. Jasmine fleetingly thought what an odd pair they were as she hugged the small girl back. But then they pulled quickly apart as Simon waddled up to them.

For a moment or two, Jasmine wondered if the man had grown even more since she'd left earlier that afternoon. His stomach spilled over the belt at his waist, the thin, greasy shirt barely keeping his girth from falling past that. His baggy pants were far too short revealing socks which probably hadn't been washed in years. They'd never seen him take them off, and they'd snuck food from his tent often enough to know that he slept with them on as well. Simon carried a cane which had a fancy metal snake head on the top, baring its fangs. He'd use it to beat those who failed at their tasks, and had sharpened the fangs so that they could do some serious damage. No one in the group enjoyed having Simon for their boss, but none of them had anywhere else to go. 'Accidents' often happened to those who spoke out. They'd learned to be careful who was around when voicing opinions.

Simon stopped in front of Jasmine, and simply looked at her. She stared back. Most of the other kids would look away in fear, but not Jasmine. She stared right back into his watery grey eyes. Finally he tapped his cane on the sandy ground impatiently, and she rolled her eyes. She reached her hands into the sash around her waist, pulling out all but a few treasures. He took them all, holding the small pile in one of his shovel like hands.

"That's it?" he asked. She smiled, not at all friendly.

"No, but if you want the shiny surprise your going to have to add more food to the pot." She told him. It was a common game between the two. Even from here Jasmine could see that the stew was more broth than anything, and they could all use more substance, except Simon of course. The man grunted then turned and went into his tent where he kept all the food. Once he was out of sight, most of the other children came closer, giving Jasmine quick hugs and handshakes. Then Simon was back, with a slightly dirty plate full of vegetables. Jasmine went closer and expected the plate carefully. She looked back up.

"This shiny is worth more than just veggies, how about some of that beef you've got in there?" She heard some of the children groan at the mention of meat, and Simon glared at her before he went back in to get some. The handful he brought out was large enough that everyone would get some good protein, and she nodded, satisfied. She reached back into her sash and pulled out the diamond necklace. Everyone gasped as the expensive stones hit the light from the fire, and Simon practically broke the thing by grabbing it so fast. Jasmine put her hand inconspicuously on her stomach, counting what she'd been able to keep hidden through the fold of the fabric. There were a few gold coins and a ring she knew held a ruby. It would be enough.

Simon went back into his tent to look at the pretty things, and Scarlet quickly cut the vegetables and the beef with the knife Jasmine had pulled from her boot top. She added them to the pot and stirred it, giving it time to cook as Jasmine told the others about her adventures for of the night. By the time she was finished, the food was done, and Scarlet scooped out a loaded spoonful for everyone, making sure there was at least one large chunk of meat in every bowl. One of the bowls went in front of Simon's tent. It seemed to him that they were honoring him by delivering his food, but for the kids it kept him in his tent longer and out of their business.

After they ate, everyone huddled together in a circle around the fire, trying to ward of the nighttime chill. Scarlet was once again begged to tell one of her stories, and she did so, lulling some of the younger children to sleep. Once she was finished, Jasmine and the older kids carried the littles to their bed, tucking them in tightly. Then they all whispered their goodnights and went to their own tents.

Once Scarlet and Jasmine tied the flaps of their tent shut, they lit a tiny candle and changed into their nightgowns. As they brushed each other's hair and braided it for the night, Jasmine told Scarlet about Charlie. She'd left out most of the details of him and their dance from the others, but she told Scarlet everything, including his beautiful blue eyes. Scarlet was perfectly content to tease Jasmine for her recent infatuation, she'd never had eyes for anyone before and didn't know what it was like to see someone as more than a friend. But Jasmine had courted boys before, whenever they were on a planet for a longer period of time she attracted someone. Now though, Charlie was all she could think about. And those amazing blue eyes were still in her mind as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_I'm sure you all hate me by now don't you? It's been what, a year and a half? Give or take a few months? Well your long wait is finally over!_

_Only because I couldn't find anything else to fix...well, I hope you will (re)enjoy this chapter everyone, please review! Even if you're going to throw things at me, I know I deserve it..._

_Your Humble (and very appologetic) Authoress, _

_Whisperwings  
_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The whole gypsy camp was awakened the next morning with a bellow from none other than Simon. Everyone stumbled out of their tents in their night clothes, shivering in the morning chill. Jasmine stepped to the fire and added a stick or two, poking the dormant sparks back into life. As the blaze grew, everyone shuffled forwards into the warmth. Simon stood there until they'd all gathered in the circle.

"Today I am going t' take the various objects brought t' me by my loyal children, and sell them off t' my contact at the Spaceport. Because of the bountiful 'harvest' collected, we'll be able to afford more food, so you lot better behave if you want t' get any of it. I'll be gone all day and long into nightfall. None of you are t' leave this cave for any reason at all, do ye understand me?" Everyone nodded, and he allowed everyone to go back to their tents and back to sleep. Jasmine however followed him to the entrance of the cave.

"You need to buy more meat this time." She told the man. He glared at her, and she gulped a bit, but stood tall. "That little hunk of beef you got last time is nowhere near enough to feed twenty odd people, let alone growing children. If you don't want the kids to start dying off, you're going to need to get us more food. Especially more meat."

"Last month, all you could talk about was more greens, and I did that for ye. Are ye ever happy?"

"No, I'm not. And that's because you take everything far too literally. We need more of everything, not just meat or just veggies or just fruit. Something sugary sweet would help as well. We just need _more_. Always more." Simon slapped her, the sound reverberating throughout the cave. She stumbled back but recovered quickly. She'd spoken out of place again. It happened often enough that she was expecting it. However this time he was wearing one of the rings she'd stolen, and the stone in it cut her cheek. It stung more than she cared to admit.

"'Always more' indeed." Simon said savagely. "Well, when you lot start bringing me better things t' sell, then I'll get more cash for 'em. And when that happens, then and only then will you get more. Y' hear?" Jasmine longed to point out that the diamond necklace should be plenty, but she held her tongue. Finally she looked away, scanning the sandy floor at her feet. Simon grunted in satisfaction and left. Jasmine slowly went back to her tent.

As she sat down on her bed, Scarlet sat up. She gasped when she saw the scratch on Jasmine's cheek, and placed a cool hand over the throbbing mark. She shook her head.

"You know, you really shouldn't talk to him like that, he'll just hurt you."

"I'm guessing you heard all that?"

"We live in a cave, Jasmine. We can hear everything above a whisper."

"Oh, right. I forgot…no one could ever hear that before."

"You mean you didn't just start this since we got here?"

"No Letty, I didn't. I've been doing that for years. It's just, no one could hear, so no one knew. It's the only way for me to get him to listen. If he gets mad enough to hit me, then I know I've gotten my point across. And he seems to think it justifies the fact that he actually does listen." Jasmine explained. Scarlet sighed.

"Isn't there a less painful way to get your point across though? Your current system seems awfully unorthodox." She removed her hand and inspected the cut. "Well, this is just a scrape. I'll get you a wet cloth for it." She grabbed a rag and went out to the cave pool at the back of the cavern. It was the clearest pool Scarlet had ever seen, and she dipped the rag in it, quickly soaking up the clean cool water. She crawled back into the tent, placing the wet rag on Jasmine's face. The older girl had already fallen back asleep; and Scarlet laid the fabric carefully so that it wouldn't slide off. She then got dressed quietly and brushed her hair. She grabbed a book and was deep into the story by the time Jasmine woke up again.

* * *

The day was spent cleaning things up around the cavern. They might not have much, but they were a band of children so things were bound to get messy. They snuck out of the cave only a few times to find fuel for the fire. However the caverns were mostly bare, and they wouldn't be able to find wood for much longer.

Only after she made sure everyone had a job did Jasmine take aside one of the older boys. His name was Josh, and he was hitting puberty. His voice had been cracking and he was growing faster than a weed. He was well liked, and unfortunately a target for Simon's beatings. The fat man seemed to think that just because Josh was growing up that he could handle more pain. Jasmine grabbed his arm as he came back with an armload of twigs and sticks.

"Josh, its time for you to get out of here." Jasmine whispered to him.

"But how can I leave? I don't have anywhere to go, and no money to get there." He pointed out, although faint hope shown in his eyes. Older kids had been known to disappear when Simon started bullying them more than usual, and Josh was guessing that Jasmine might have been behind all of them. His eyes grew wide as the older girl pulled out a few gold coins and a ruby ring out of her sash. She placed them in his hand and wrapped his fingers around them.

"Don't worry, I've taken care of everything. Use a coin to take the taxi to the Spaceport. Whatever you do, avoid the East Docks, that's where Simon does his dirty dealings. Instead, go to the West Docks and find Dock Number 212. There, there's a ship that will take you to Frian, leaving at noon. Use the ring to pay the captain. Frian is a small planet where the winter lasts 8 months out of the year; it's very similar to the planet where we first found you. A family will meet you at the dock there. Give them all the coins you have left except for one gold piece. That you must keep for yourself. The family seemed very nice when I last spoke with them, they have a younger son and daughter, but the father was hurt last year and can't do his ice farming alone anymore. They need a strong lad who will work hard, and would be very happy for another son. There will be a three month trial period, and if things aren't working out then you can leave. That's what you need the last gold piece for, just in case they aren't as kind as I believe they are. If things go well however, then they'll adopt you into their family." Jasmine took a deep breath after her speech, and took out a pen and wrote on his arm the dock number, the name of the ship and the family he was to go to. Josh looked at her so happily that she pulled him in for a quick hug.

"Thank you so very much Jasmine. You did all this for me?" Josh asked. Jasmine nodded and pulled back.

"I do it for everyone and all behind Simon's back. It keeps life interesting. Now that your future is pretty much figured out, I need to get working on the twins, Samantha and Scott. They're getting a bit old for this kind of life, and its time for them to move on." Jasmine placed her hands on his shoulders. "Now pack only the things you can't bear to leave behind in one of the backpacks and leave as if you're going for more wood." She fixed his hat so that it wasn't crooked. "Good luck Josh, we'll all miss you." Josh hugged her around the middle again, and dashed off to find his things. The boy was gone soon after, and it would be hours before anyone even realized he was missing. And days before Simon did. Jasmine went back to work as if nothing had happened, not giving anything away.

About an hour before sunset, everyone froze as they heard a strange sound growing louder and louder. It sounded like an engine on some sort, and it was coming their way. Jasmine whispered for some of the kids to put out the campfire. They covered it with sand, minimizing the smoke the action would produce. Then they all looked at the roof of the cave and watched as a shadow passed over the various openings. To Jasmine's fear, the shadow slowed down, and stopped on the roof. The person was landing there! She waved frantically for everyone to join her along the edge of the cave. If the roof collapsed with the weight of the person, she didn't want anyone getting hurt other than the idiot above them. They should know that the canyons were riddled with caves and that the first thing to do before landing on one of the plateaus was to make sure it was solid. They heard the crunching of boots as whoever it was walked around, and Jasmine held her breath. Maybe they would just get on their machine and leave before the anything happened. But then a loud crack resounded, and she groaned.

Just as she'd expected, a large portion of the roof came crashing down in the middle of the room. Whoever had been standing there fell along with the rock, but was able to roll as they hit the ground, avoiding injury. Jasmine was rather impressed by their quick actions; such a move took skill. As the dust cleared, she stepped forward angrily.

"What kind of idiot are you? Don't you know it isn't safe to just walk wherever you feel like here? It's dangerous and stupid and—" her breath caught in her throat. The person who had fallen had stood and turned to her, and she found herself looking into a pair of familiar blue eyes. "Charlie?" she asked.

"Jasmine? What are you doing here?" Charlie asked her, extremely confused. He looked around to see that the gypsy girl wasn't alone. The cave he'd fallen into was full of children of all ages, although Jasmine did seem to be the oldest. Most of them were crowded along the walls. The youngest were huddling together behind Jasmine herself, clutching her skirts and peering at him from behind her.

"What am _I_ doing here? I live here. I think I should be asking you what you're doing here." Jasmine answered putting her hands on her hips. Charlie was still too shocked to give her an answer though. She sighed and pried the various fingers from her skirt, then grabbed Charlie by the elbow and led him away. She turned before she led him out of the cave. "Everyone, start packing your things, we're going to have to find a new place to camp before Simon gets back." The kids groaned, but Jasmine ignored them, leading Charlie away once more. When they reached the mouth of the cave she finally stopped. "Alright, now what were you thinking, walking around so carelessly like that?" she asked the blond haired boy.

"I wasn't being careless, its training. I walk around on unsafe ground of the canyons, and I train my reflexes by being able to safely land when the cave collapses. I'm not so stupid as to not look where I'm going, promise. Usually there aren't people in the caves around here though." He explained, looking to her for an explanation. Jasmine sighed and sat down on the ground, hanging her legs over the edge and swinging her feet in the open air.

"Well, you already know I'm a gypsy." She started. "This is the troupe I travel with."

"Are you the leader? You look like you're the oldest." At that Jasmine chuckled.

"In a way, yes. In that the kids will listen to my orders over the official leader. His name is Simon, and he's…well quite frankly, he's a brute. We all hate him, but we can't leave, we don't have anywhere else to go. He forces us to steal, and only he has the contacts in order to sell what we get for him. Which means he's the only one with money for food."

"But surely you could leave. Find regular work, people to take you in." Charlie said, sitting down across from her.

"It's not that easy I'm afraid. We're gypsies, and it's painfully obvious to everyone. People ignore the fact that it's not our fault we were abandoned or beaten or something. They ignore the situations that pushed us to this life. Instead, all they see are a bunch of bad children who would steal the bread off your table as soon as look at you." She shrugged helplessly. "So we do the best with what we have."

"And this Simon guy is much better?"

"He beats us." Came a voice from behind them. Jasmine and Charlie turned to see Scarlet standing there. "Jasmine is the only one who can stand up to him without beatings, and even she gets it every once in a while. He hit her last night; you can see the cut on her cheek." Jasmine looked away, but not before Charlie saw the cut. "And the older the kids get, the more Simon hurts us. Jasmine helps us run away once we're old enough to get by on our own. She finds kind families for us to go to, and gives us enough to get by in case those plans go wrong." By now Jasmine was blushing. Yes it was true, but she hadn't ever heard it put into words before.

"It's not that simple, and I'm not a hero or anything." She hurried to explain to Charlie. "I just...want to help them."

"That by itself defines a hero sometimes." The boy said, and Jasmine blushed again.

"Heroes don't make their living by dancing in the streets during the day and stealing by night." She said softly. She looked at the sky. "Speaking of night, Simon will be back in only a few hours, you should go." She stood. "I need to make sure we get everything together and find a new place to camp before it gets too late." Charlie stood as well.

"Let me help." He said, and Jasmine raised an eyebrow at him. "It's the least I can do since it's my fault you have to move in the first place. Besides, I've explored all over these canyons, I can show you a great place for a secret camp." Jasmine smiled at him.

"Charlie, as much as I appreciate it, the camp wouldn't be secret if you knew where it was."

"If you don't let me help I'll just keep searching until I find you again." He said stubbornly. Jasmine sighed, exasperated. Secretly she was flattered that such attention and stubbornness was directed to her. She looked at Scarlet who shrugged. She put her hand on her hips and looked shrewdly at the boy.

"You know a place already?"

"Yup, a great one. With a much stronger roof." He said grinning. Jasmine looked down, unsure. One of the younger children came out and tugged her skirt to get her attention.

"Jasmine, are we going to have to sleep outside again?" he asked her, and that made up her mind. She picked the little one up.

"No Collin, this nice young man has a new home for us, all ready. All we have to do is go there." She told him. Charlie grinned.

"I'll just go in and help pack, shall I?" and with that he was gone. Jasmine shook her head, putting down the squirming Collin who scampered off to follow.

"Something tells me I'm going to regret this." She said to Scarlet. The girl giggled.

"Maybe, but he's cute enough to make up for it." Jasmine looked at her in surprise, but Scarlet just smiled innocently and went back into the cave. She threw up her hands in exasperation.

"Is the whole universe working against me tonight, or is it just my imagination?" she asked the sky. When she didn't receive an answer she sighed and followed the others inside to finish packing everything up.

* * *

It didn't take long for all the tents to be taken down, and there wasn't much to pack, so they were soon done. Charlie took the heaviest bags and put them on the solar bike he had ridden there and carried them that way, allowing the machine to do the heavy lifting. Then everyone went to the mouth of the cave then dropped their things down the side, climbing down after them. Once on the canyon floor, Charlie led the way, pushing his bike along and telling fantastic stories to the younger children who already seemed to adore him. Jasmine brought up the rear, making sure no one was left behind. Only a short distance away, Charlie stopped and pointed to a sliver in the rock face. He then squeezed through, and the rest followed. Behind the sliver was a staircase like formation winding up the rock face. It was much easier to climb than the last cliff.

They followed the sandy haired boy up the stairs, and into a tiny opening. They had to crawl a distance, but suddenly, they were in a huge room. Not just one room, but many! The children dropped their things in excitement and started exploring. The center cave was a medium sized room, large enough for them all to hang out with a campfire, but not for the tents. Off the main area though were many smaller caves, where different groups could set up their own tents and things. As the children claimed the little caves, Jasmine declared one of the smaller caves to be for Simon alone. Everyone agreed, seeing as no one wanted to be near the man's smelly tent anyway. The best part was that the main room had a circular opening right in the center for smoke to escape and light to enter.

"What if other people fly around over us though? Won't they find us?" Jasmine asked Charlie.

"It's doubtful. Nearby is a mining facility which belts smoke constantly. Even if someone sees smoke from your campfire, they'll assume it's from some machine digging in here. Also, most people don't fly near here because it's off limits. People avoid the mining areas. Except people like my dad when he was young anyway." Charlie explained, chuckling. He proceeded to entertain some of the kids with a story of how his dad had gotten caught multiple times flying where he wasn't supposed to. As they sat around him on the floor, Jasmine and the older children started setting up tents in their new home, making it theirs.

As it started getting dark, Jasmine had Scarlet start a fire in the center of the main room, and they started making a small supper. When Charlie saw how little they had to eat, he told them he'd be back soon and took off. He was back a short time later with a bag of fruit and two loaves of bread. It was when he pulled out a pat of butter that everyone shouted for joy. Jasmine was so happy she kissed the boy on the cheek. He blushed deeply, but helped her cut a thick slice of bread for everyone with butter on top. The bread was gone in a heartbeat, but the smiles lasted all night.

They had lost all track of time and were trying to teach Charlie one of their gypsy songs when they heard the signal. Jasmine's eyes widened. She had set up a string tied to a bell near the cave entrance, whenever someone came through the rock sliver, they would brush the string, causing the bell to ring upstairs. She had left directions to the new camp in the old cave so Simon could find them and wouldn't use the move as an excuse to beat the children for 'leaving him behind'.

"Simon's back! Quick, Charlie, hide!" Scarlet led the boy to their tent in one of the smaller caves that they were sharing with some of the other older kids. They were out of sight just in time. Simon came through the small opening and looked around.

"What happened to the roof of the old place?" he asked angrily. Jasmine stood.

"We have no idea. We were cleaning up when suddenly a little piece fell from the ceiling. Thankfully no one was under it. Everyone got away just in time before more rock fell. We didn't realize how dangerous that roof was, but it was no one's fault. We decided it would be safer to try and find a new place to camp in case more of the roof started caving in. We were lucky to find this place. Little Sarah found the stairs completely on accident." Right on cue, Sarah beamed proudly, as if she had in fact found the place. Simon walked around, exploring the little caves along the main room. Jasmine held her breath as he inspected the one with her tent and prayed Charlie was well hidden. She tried to breathe normally as he came back out again.

"This is nice." Simon finally said, a bit reluctantly. Jasmine walked to the cave they'd appointed his.

"This one is for you, sir." She told him, and he finally smiled.

"Excellent. I bought some things for you all, they're at the bottom of the stairs, go get them." He them went into his cave and was obviously planning on staying there the rest of the night. Two older boys hurried to bring up the bags he'd mentioned, and they cheered when Scarlet pulled out the large hunk of beef. There were other fruits and vegetables too, and they added to them the ones that Charlie had brought. Simon would never notice. As the children sorted out the food and placed it all on natural shelves hollowed out of the wall of the cave, Jasmine went to get Charlie.

"It's alright, you can come out now. But I think you'd better get out of here just in case." She whispered to him. As he followed her out into the main room he whispered.

"You were right about him smelling bad; does the guy wash at _all_?" Jasmine grimaced.

"Not that any of us have ever seen." He made a face and she giggled. They both crawled out of the cave and stood at the top of the stairs in the moonlight. "Thank goodness we hid your bike earlier."

"Yeah, that could have really messed things up." He said as he turned to her.

"I'd walk it for a ways though before you start riding, we don't want Simon to hear the engine." She pointed out, and he nodded.

"I will." He turned to leave, only to turn right back around. "When can I see you again?" He asked her. Jasmine looked at him and grinned, blushing slightly.

"I'll see you first." She answered, smirking. And with that she turned and went back into the cave, leaving the boy with a large grin on his face. She hadn't said she didn't want to see him again he realized, and he smiled as he walked away.

* * *

_For once, I am late on purpose. I didn't want to post on Christmas Eve, so i made you all wait a few extra days :P Speaking of, happy Holidays everyone!_

_I hope eyou all enjoyed the chapter, please review and make my christmas ^^_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As it turned out, Jasmine was wrong about seeing Charlie before he saw her. This was because she was dancing on a street corner and too busy to notice him in the crowd that had gathered. She twirled around gracefully, holding two ribbons which swirled around her as she spun. He thought she looked lovely in the sunlight, and her smile wasn't for show. She obviously loved to dance. He smiled himself and leaned against the corner of a building nearby, watching her dance. He noticed a few more of the children from the caves, wandering through the gathered crowd, sneaking a few coins here and there. Not enough for anyone to notice, but enough to make Simon happy.

Charlie grimaced as he thought of the awful man. He didn't like him at all, and he didn't like the way he treated his charges. But there wasn't a whole lot he was able to do about the situation, so he pushed the thought from his mind as Jasmine's dance ended. The crowd clapped and dissipated, some tossing coins into the hat that had been placed on the ground, not knowing that they had already contributed in a round-a-bout way. After everyone was gone, the children gathered around Jasmine and placed their work's results into the hat as well. It was then that he stepped out from the shadows. Jasmine noticed him right away and smiled.

"Well Charlie, I'm surprised to see you again so soon. What are you doing here?" She asked him. He stepped forward into the group, ruffling the hair of a younger boy.

"My Mother is here doing her shopping. I wasn't needed so I have the afternoon to myself." He answered happily. She raised an eyebrow, smiling slyly.

"Are you implying something there, mister?" and he grinned back, his eyes sparkling.

"Only if you believe that I am asking you to join me for a walk about the town." He said with a slight bow, making her giggle. It was like bells it was so lovely, and he couldn't wait to make her laugh some more.

"I suppose I can be seen if I'm in such good company as yours." She mocked him curtsying back gracefully. She turned to the children. "You all did a very good job today, just the right amount of coins! And I know that you lot don't need me to lead you back to the caves. I'll count up our earnings and see if I can't get us some sugary sweets. Now off you go!" The children excitedly headed towards the edge of town, eagerly looking forward to her promised surprise. She sighed. "I only hope we _can_ afford them, they deserve a small reward."

"I can show you the best places to buy in bulk as far as sweets go. It's good quality stuff too." She smiled at him thankfully.

"I'd like that."

"In that case, shall that be our first stop?" he said holding out his arm as if she were a great lady. She had to admit it was a nice change.

"Absolutely." She agreed, putting her arm through his and the two started a leisurely stroll, chatting along the way. Jasmine wasn't sure where it happened, but she came to a few conclusions. One was that she trusted Charlie a lot. More than she'd ever trusted anyone besides Scarlet. Secondly, her feelings for him were more than just a slight interest, but a full blown crush. Once they reached the shop Charlie had mentioned they ducked inside and squirmed through the crowd to a back corner where the counter was.

"Ah Charlie!" the man behind it said happily. "Nice to see a familiar face among all the out-of-towners. That inn of your grandmothers certainly attracts the customers!"

"Yes it does Bryan!" Charlie answered over the babble. "If you don't mind, can you show my friend and I to your cheaper pieces?" Bryan shushed him hurriedly and motioned for them to follow him into a back room.

"Don't say such things around this crowd my boy! If they know I have cheaper things, then I get less money out of it!" he merrily explained, and Jasmine laughed. He pointed to a staircase going down to a cellar. "When candies break, I put the pieces in a barrel down there. Feel free to fill one of the bags next to it with as much as you can fit!"

"And how much would that cost sir?" Jasmine asked a bit worried, but the named price was much lower than she expected and she smiled gleefully. As Bryan returned to his work, Charlie led her down the stairs. At the bottom he turned to smile at her and she was about to smile back when her head gave a sharp pain. She cried out as it momentarily made her vision go black and she stumbled forward, forgetting she was still on the staircase. Charlie dashed to catch her, and he sat her down on the cellar floor gently as she clutched her head.

"Are you okay?" he asked, obviously worried. She tried to smile at him, but she couldn't even open her eyes, her head hurt so badly.

"It'll pass." She managed to get out through gritted teeth. They both sat in tense silence until the headache passed as quickly as it had come, and she was able to look up at him. The worried look in his eyes was breathtaking, and she smiled breezily at him. "I'm sorry, that hasn't happed for a while. I suppose it was due." She stood up, completely steady on her feet as if nothing had happened.

"What was that all about?" Charlie asked her, but she could only shake her head.

"I'm not really sure. I've been getting them for as long as I can remember, but lately they've been getting worse…I don't understand why though." She shrugged. "But I'm used to them, I'll be fine." She smiled, trying to convince her new friend to do the same. She blushed a bit. "Thank you for catching me by the way." That did the trick, and he smiled at her again. They then headed over to the large barrel of candy pieces, and had a grand time fitting as many as possible into one of the available bags. Once they finished they went back upstairs, Jasmine discreetly handed Bryan the smaller amount of coins, and thanked him before they left.

The two of them walked to the caves where the children were staying, and they dropped off the candy to a very excited group. They kept it quiet however, and hid their treasure away so Simon wouldn't find out. And seeing as Jasmine was supposed to be out working the town dry all afternoon, they decided to head back to the village.

The rest of the day was spent wandering around the town, with Charlie pointing out all the odd wonders and things that had appeared after the Benboe Inn had reopened. The town had apparently grown quickly, as new stores and places to spend time opened to entertain the growing amount of visitors. Towards the end of the day Charlie grinned at her, excited about something.

"I have something I want to show you." He told her and started walking faster with a specific destination in mind. It was something he had a feeling she would really appreciate. They came to a large glass building at the edge of town, moisture fogging up the windows so that they couldn't see in. Jasmine looked around bewildered.

"What is this place?" she asked as he led her through a set of double doors. She gasped as a beautiful sight was revealed to her. They were in a large tropical garden, all indoors! It was lush and green, and everywhere she looked there were butterflies!

"It's one of my favorite places in town." Charlie told her softly. "It's a butterfly garden. It was a project of Doctor Doppler's not too long ago, and it flourished. There are butterflies from many different planets here, as many as he could find that lived in a similar climate at least. He and Captain Amelia spent years traveling around the galaxy, collecting them and the plants they lived around. This room holds plants and insects from at least thirty different planets." Jasmine stepped forward following the path as it would around the large greenhouse.

"It's incredible…and absolutely gorgeous!" She said as she turned in a circle trying to look at everything at once. He chuckled at her wondrous face, and led her on. Finally they reached the center of the garden, and found a patio area with a few tables and chairs. At the moment it was empty of other visitors, and the two weren't complaining. Jasmine sank into one of the chairs, and Charlie sat across from her. She looked at him, studying his face and not caring that he noticed.

"What's it like?" she finally asked.

"What's what like?"

"What's it like to have a real family?" He snorted.

"Incredibly annoying at times. There are all sorts of rules and things to follow, and chores to do. And they are always in your business, no matter how hard you try and hide things. And you can't always do the things you want to do." He looked at her thoughtful face and realized that it was more than that. Jasmine hadn't had a real family for many years, she had told him so. Her mother had abandoned her on a random porch when she was little which was where Simon found her. He had named her after the place she was found, a porch covered in jasmine vines. He thought back to his family and went on.

"They aren't always all bad. No matter what we are always there to support each other. And there is always someone around if you need them. Maria and I can tell each other anything, which is good since we can't really hide things from each other anyway. My mom is amazing at listening and always has a solution. She's so kind and helpful, that you just want to do the right thing and make her proud, you know? And dad, well he's a lot like me, so we have good times together. I suppose I should be a little more grateful for them shouldn't I?" he looked at her, feeling a bit guilty. When Jasmine saw the guilty look in his eyes she felt bad.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel ungrateful or anything, I was just wondering. It's just…I feel like I barely remember my mother sometimes, and I have no idea who my father was. I know she was living with my grandmother when she left me. But aside from them I don't even know if I _have_ a family anymore." She smiled softly, looking towards the lush greenery but obviously seeing something else. "I take that back. My troupe is my family in a way. We all support each other, and we always help when one of us is in trouble for some reason. If Simon wasn't around it'd be great, but he is. At least he goes away often enough that we don't have to deal with him quite as often…"

"Who's this Simon fellow lassie? Doesn't sound like a good man to me." A voice said. She spun in her seat, standing fearfully on instinct. Beside her, Charlie smiled and stood as well, but he was as calm as a spring day.

"Silver!" he said happily and ran to hug the man who had appeared from the path nearby. Jasmine stood shyly and looked on. The man was large, and had a robotic arm and leg. When he looked in her direction, she was surprised to see the machinery go all the way up the side of his face, replacing his right eye as well. Charlie stood back. "Silver, this is Jasmine Porch. Jasmine, this is John Silver, one of the pirates I was telling you about." He winked and she had to grin at the man's dismayed look.

"Pirate? How am I going to get any respect in this town if you go around introducing me like that, lad?" he also winked at Jasmine to show he was kidding and she giggled at the similarity between the two boys in front of her. "I've worked hard for me good reputation, now don't you go about messing it up." He patted Charlie on the shoulder as he laughed, and stepped forward to her. She gave a small curtsy as he looked over. "Well aren't you a pretty thing? Jasmine was it? Pleased to meet you lass." He bowed in return. She giggled again, but stopped as another headache overtook her. Charlie rushed to her side and helped her sit down while Silver looked on, surprised. It slowly passed and she looked up, a slight worried tinge in her own eyes.

"Twice in one day, this seems to be becoming a habit." She said, trying to lighten the situation. Silver knelt in front of her as Charlie took his chair again.

"How long has this been happening lass?" he asked gently.

"As long as I can remember." She whispered. She looked up into his eyes, knowing somehow that she could confide in him. "I don't know what' wrong with me." she said softly, only now showing how frightened she truly was. Silver smiled and took both of her hands.

"No need to worry, I've seen something similar before. Did you know that your eyes turned bright purple just before your headache started?" Jasmine shook her head surprised. "Well they do, and that's a sure sign of voodoo magic. I've seen something similar before and the lad affected by it was actually a map."

"A map?" she and Charlie asked at the same time.

"Yes indeed. A pirate captain took his cabin boy to a voodoo priestess, and she took the location of the treasure from the captain's mind and placed it into the deep memories of the cabin boy's. Then, when a certain phrase was said, he would reveal the location to the treasure. It was a brilliant idea if it didn't have the side effects of the headaches." Jasmine's eyes were very wide.

"So that means…"

"Yes lass, you're the key to a secret treasure." Silver finished proudly. She stared at him and suddenly stood, her chair falling over backwards. Charlie stood as well, wanting to make sure she was alright. He gasped when he saw her eyes. They were glowing! A deep purple color, just like Silver had said. The old pirate stood back and pulled Charlie with him. Jasmine stood completely straight, looking towards the sky. She seemed oblivious to her surroundings. Her entire body was now glowing a soft violet, and she spoke in a deep voice that wasn't her own.

"_The first phrase has been spoken after many a year,_

_And now this puzzle shall finally become clear._

_The first step is to go to a planet of ice,_

_To the only warm place to be found at the site._

_When the girl is standing in the correct position,_

_Only then shall the next clue be given."_

And with that, Jasmine crumpled to the floor, unconscious. Charlie dashed to her side and rolled her over. She was perfectly fine, other than the fact that she wouldn't wake up. Silver joined him.

"She'll be alright; from what I've 'eard these tellings take a lot out of the person. She'll wake up eventually. Maybe we should take her back to the Inn so she can rest in a comfortable bed. From the looks of her, she doesn't get that chance often." Charlie picked her up carefully and looked at his old friend.

"I don't think she ever _has_ had that chance." He said softly, and led the way out of the garden.

* * *

"Will she ever wake up?" A voice asked above her. At least, she thought it was above her. Jasmine couldn't really tell, as her mind was still fuzzy and she couldn't tell which way was up, let alone where the voice was coming from.

"Shhh, be patient Samantha." Another voice said, not much older than the first. At that Jasmine opened her eyes to see a small cat like face with blond hair looking down at her. The child gasped and jumped back. She ran away shouting.

"She's awake mama! Charlie, she's awake again!" Jasmine put a hand on her forehead and sat up slowly. She looked around trying to figure out where she was. The room was bright and colorful, with a fireplace on one wall. The quilt covering the bed was a simple green and purple pattern, and soft as if it was often used. The bed itself was heavenly; she didn't think she'd ever been more comfortable. She looked up as a woman came into the room. Jasmine recognized her as Alexandra, Charlie's mother.

"Oh my, are you alright?" she asked gently, placing a cool hand on her forehead and making sure she wasn't running a fever. "You gave us quite a scare when Charlie carried you into the common room like that." She glared a bit at her son who had followed her into the room. He simply smirked back at his mother playfully. Then he turned to Jasmine.

"How are you feeling? Silver says you'll be a bit tired after your riddle thing, and that you should take it easy." Jasmine raised an eyebrow.

"Riddle? What riddle?" she asked, very confused. Charlie's own eyebrows narrowed.

"You don't remember?" he asked, and she shook her head. "Oh." He sat down in a chair next to the bed while he explained what had happened with the trance, and told her the riddle. "Silver wrote it down right off, he figured it was important. I guess we have to go to the place the riddle says to go and then you'll say the next clue." Jasmine looked at her hands. They were very dirty compared to the clean white sheets she'd been sleeping in. She blushed and tried to hide them, but Alex stopped her by placing a hand on her arm.

"Don't worry about it Jasmine, the sheets will wash, and so will you. A hot bath is all set up for you behind the screen." She kicked Charlie out of the room, scolding him for pushing too much onto his friend at once. He grinned at Jasmine on the way out and she giggled a bit. Then Alex helped her out of bed, as she was still a bit unsteady on her feet, and helped her undress and wash. The hot water was amazing on her skin, which hadn't had a proper wash for far too long. And never in warm water. After Jasmine was all clean, the water was filthy, but Alex told her she'd seen worse. She apparently had a problem with grease as she worked with machines, and often turned her own bathwater black.

Jasmine laughed at the woman's stories and allowed her to wrap her in a large towel and comb her long hair. Alex then helped Jasmine to dress in a spare dress of her own, as one of Maria's would be much too short. Even the simple work dress was made of fabric better woven than Jasmine's own clothing. Other than her skirt anyway, which she had made herself from stolen cloth. Jasmine had loved how it flowed and was perfect for her dancing. By now she was herself again and able to keep her own two feet. She did a back flip to prove it to Alex who laughed and led her downstairs. In the common room were only a few people, almost everyone else had gone to bed. Silver sat in front of the fireplace with Jim, and Charlie sat with a boy his age. He was offering a bowl of stew to

"Scarlet!" Jasmine cried as she saw her friend. Scarlet turned and smiled, running to give her a hug. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I came to find you when you didn't come back." Scarlet told her. "Simon was getting angry, and I knew you wouldn't normally be so late unless you had a good reason, so I came to find you before he could." She nodded to the other boy. "Thankfully, I ran into Taver, who said a good place to look for a missing friend was here. I guess he was right." She said with a shy giggle. Jasmine looked at Taver. He had rich brown hair and warm brown eyes. He was an obvious flyboy, with tousled hair and goggles strapped to his forehead. His clothing wasn't sophisticated so much as practical for high speeds in open air. He reminded her of what Jim must have been like when he'd been younger, at least according to what Charlie had told her. The wild young man had also obviously caught Scarlet's fancy, and she shook her head to keep from laughing. She shook Taver's hand instead.

"Pleased to meet you." She said with a grin. "Thanks for helping out my friend, we both appreciate it."

"No problem." Taver said with an ironic salute. "Glad to be of service to two such lovely ladies." Scarlet blushed, not used to flirtation, but Jasmine just laughed. Just then, Silver called her over and she went to join the men by the fireplace. The others followed, curious. Jasmine hoped that maybe the old pirate could shed some light on her situation, she could sure use some help from someone who knew what they were talking about.

* * *

_And the mystery deepens! At least for those of you who haven't read the story before..._

_Anyways, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!_

_Please review everyone, I'd love to know what you think so far :)_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Nervously, Jasmine sat down on the couch Silver gestured to. She wasn't quite sure what was going on, and wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know. Sure her life may not be easy, but it was relatively simple. And as much as she wanted to keep it that way, she knew that this would change everything.

"Now then, Jasmine," Silver began. "We need to figure out how this happened to you. Have you ever visited a voodoo priestess by chance?" She shook her head anxiously.

"Of course not, that would be too easy." Jim said with a smirk. He wrapped an arm around Alex's waist as she sat on the arm of his chair. Jasmine couldn't help but sigh at the sight. They obviously loved each other very much. She hoped that someday someone could love her like that. But as Silver started to speak, she paid close attention.

"Well, if she herself wasn't taken to the priestess, than it must have been one of her parents, or even someone before them. It would be almost impossible to find out I'm afraid." Silver said, scratching his chin. "Well, I'm afraid there's only one thing to do, lass. We need to follow the clues." Jasmine stood, shaking her head.

"No way! I heard the riddle, it says to go to an entirely different planet! I can't just leave everyone. The other children are counting on me!"

"Jasmine." She heard Charlie say quietly. She looked into his eyes hoping he'd understand.

"I can't help them if I'm not there Charlie." She whispered. She knew he understood, she could tell. But he also thought she should go. She turned to walk away, she wouldn't leave them, she couldn't! A hand on her elbow stopped her. She knew it was Charlie, but she refused to look at him.

"Jasmine, this riddle will lead you to treasure. What better way to help them than to take them all away from Simon altogether? With the treasure you'd find, you would be able to support them all, and find them all new families where they'd be safe. You wouldn't have to rely on the old scumbag for anything." Jasmine looked at floor, slowly turning to look at him. He smiled encouragingly.

"Your headaches will go away." Silver pointed out. "The only reason you have them now is because the human body isn't meant to have magic of this sort in it. The only way the voodoo priestesses have magic is because they were generally mad to start." He grinned at her. "Just think how much easier it'll be to sneak around in the shadows when you can't be stopped by these pains." Jasmine was able to get out a small smile, but wasn't entirely convinced.

"But he'll hurt them." She whispered. But Charlie could tell she was thinking seriously about this. "As much as I'd love to do this, I don't want to leave almost twenty children with a man who will beat them for no good reason." Alex's eyes widened.

"Beating children?" she asked, her voice hard. Jasmine looked at her in surprise. The way Alex had said that told her that she had been beaten herself as a child. She looked into the woman's eyes and nodded. She saw the pain of old memories cross Alex's eyes before she looked away. Jim rubbed her knee comfortingly, and she took his hand, gripping it tightly. Jasmine had to look away as her throat constricted. The fact that anyone would want to hurt such a nice person was horrible to her. And there were kids all over the galaxy who needed rescuing. Maybe with this treasure, she could do something about it. She took a deep breath.

"I'll do it." She said strongly, and everyone in the room smiled as the promise of adventure filled the air. "On one condition. I want to take the kids away from Simon before I leave. I refuse to leave them where they can get hurt, not when I can do something about it." Charlie patted her shoulder, seemingly proud of her. Alex stood and looked at Jim

"We can take them, can't we?" she asked her husband almost like a little kid asking for a cookie.

"What, all of them?" Jim asked, sounding slightly scared. Jasmine understood his fear. Twenty children could be very overwhelming.

"Why not? We've taken care of our own kids while babysitting all the Doppler children, it can't be much worse than that." She pointed out. Jasmine giggled at that. Charlie laughed too.

"Yeah, we were pretty rotten dad, and these kids are all very well behaved. It'll be a cinch compared to watching us."

"He's right." Jasmine added. "They're all good kids, really. They've been forced to grow up far too fast." Jim looked back at his wife who smiled pleadingly at him, and he sighed.

"Alright! Everyone stop giving me the big puppy eyes, I've given in already. We'll take the kids at our house, and they can have the entire forest to run around and be kids again." Jasmine ran to the man and kissed him gratefully on the cheek, mimicked by Alex who did it at the same time. The poor guy actually blushed, and Jasmine backed off snickering.

"Then it's settled, we're going on an adventure!" Charlie said with a whoop. Silver stood.

"Don't get too excited laddie, there's a lot of work to be done before we leave, and a lot of work afterwards." Jasmine stepped forward.

"I have some tale spinning to do to Simon as well. I'll need my own clothes before I go though. The man may not be the smartest, but he'd not stupid either." Alex led Jasmine upstairs and helped her change back into her own outfit. Once they reached the main room again, Silver was sitting head to head with Jim, most likely planning the beginning of their trip. Charlie was making fun of Taver for something, and Scarlet looked on laughing. Alex went to join her husband once more, and Jasmine smiled as she slipped out the door.

* * *

Only a short time later, Jasmine was leading the children though the town to the port in front of the Benboe. There stood Alex and Jim, waiting by their ship to take them back to the moon where their home was. Jasmine hugged them all good bye and watched as the ship left until it was completely out of sight. She wiped a tear from her cheek. She had no reason to be sad. She would see them again once she got back from her journey, and then she'd be able to find them all good homes. She walked up the lane and into the Inn once more. The others looked up when she came in.

"That was quick." Taver said as she joined them at the table. "What'd you tell this Simon guy to let them leave?" she giggled.

"I told him that the villagers liked my dancing this morning so much that they didn't want me to stop. Then I said that they'd set up an entire production for me, and that I was to dance on stage for them, and that I'd need all the kids to do the pick pocketing in the crowd because it'd be so large." She laughed out loud and was joined by the others. "I can't believe he actually fell for it!" the group laughed and joked some more until Silver joined their table, a serious look on his face.

"Well, I believe the only way we're going to be able to bring you on this trip is if you agree to work. We can take my ship, and my crew is loyal. But they don't take kindly to strangers, and refuse to take on passengers. So you'll have to work for your keep, and you can't expect any favors." Jasmine nodded.

"That's what we're used to anyway." She said, nodding to Scarlet. Taver and Charlie nodded as well. Silver look at them in shock.

"What makes you lads think you're going?" The boys gaped. Charlie sputtered.

"Of course I'm going! Jasmine is my friend, and I'm going to be there throughout this entire thing! I saw the beginning and I'll see the end." Taver nodded, and Silver raised an eyebrow. The boy blushed.

"I know I wasn't there for the riddle or anything, but I can help! I'm good with machines and stuff, and I am good with riddles! I've already figured out that this one is talking about Bornia." They all stared at him. "What? It does!" he insisted. "Bornia is mostly ocean, but it's all frozen over with thick ice. And the warm place the riddle mentions? There's a single volcano, and a large warm lake with an island right in the center. People come from all over the galaxy to visit the place; they've turned it into a place to relax with the warm water and all."

"How do you know all that?" Scarlet asked him surprised. The girl had been thinking over all of her studies and hadn't even come close to figuring the riddle out.

"I'm good with that kind of stuff." He tapped his head. "Lots of useless facts up here." He said with a smirk. But Silver grinned.

"Those useless facts may just help us. You're welcome to come as long as you parents are alright with it." Now Silver smirked while Taver groaned.

"But they could be anywhere right now!" he complained. "They could be home drinking tea or on the other side of the galaxy for all I know!" As he ranted, Sarah came down the stairs in her nightgown, a shawl wrapped around her shoulders.

"Are you all still awake at this hour?" she asked, surprised.

"Sorry if we're being too loud Grandmother." Charlie said standing to help her to the table.

"No no, I just came to make some tea. My back is keeping me awake again." She explained and Scarlet stood.

"I can make you something for your back if you'd like. And something to help you sleep." Sarah smiled at the redhead gratefully.

"Would you? That would be ever so kind." Scarlet nodded, happy to help. She grabbed Jasmine's arm and dragged her to the kitchen. The boys followed while Silver chatted with Sarah.

"What do you need me for? You know I couldn't tell mint from nettle if my life depended on it." Jasmine protested standing at the counter.

"No, you're hopeless. You can however cut herbs for me while I mix the correct amounts." Jasmine rolled her eyes as Scarlet took control of the kitchen. No one would even guess from her shyness everywhere else, but in the kitchen Scarlet was always in charge. It didn't take her long to know where everything was, and only needed to ask Charlie a few questions. She put them to work as well, cutting different herbs while she mixed them into jars. As she bustled around the place, Taver leaned over to Jasmine and whispered

"Is she always this bossy?" Jasmine chuckled softly.

"Almost never. Only when it comes to cooking does she ever tell anyone what to do. That and her books. She doesn't like to be outsmarted, but she hides it well. You impressed her back there, the way you figured out the riddle and all."

"Really?" he asked and Charlie grinned at his eager friend.

"She's a good girl Taver, take it easy on her." Taver grinned at him and went back to work, and Jasmine glared.

"Oh yes." Jasmine said, narrowing her eyes at him. "And she's never even had a crush on anyone before, let alone having anyone flirt with her. If you dare hurt her in any way, I will hunt you down." Her eyes had a malicious glint to them and he believed her entirely, gulping nervously. Charlie laughed at his friend's predicament, and nodded. He believed Jasmine as well. But Taver grinned at him and went back to work, already planning how to make his first move.

* * *

The next two weeks were spent preparing for the journey. There wasn't much to prepare in truth, but Silver wanted to give his crew ample time to enjoy their shore leave. He didn't want them to mutiny halfway to Bornia. For the teenagers, the time was spent having a good time in town. They'd be working hard once they set sail, and they wanted to take full advantage of their free time. Taver spent a lot of time flying through the canyons on the solar surfer Jim had given him for his twelfth birthday. Charlie worked with Alex on upgrading his solar bike so it would work better in the areas with less gravity. Jasmine had been spending a lot of time in the butterfly garden in town, just thinking or writing in the journal she'd bought with a spare coin from someone else's pocket. Scarlet spent as much time as possible in the library at the Benboe, wanting to soak up as many of the stories as she could get her hands on.

She was there one day, reading a novel when Taver found her. He entered the room quietly, wandering among the many bookshelves. He was there for the pure intent of finding her. She was curled up on an armchair in front of the fireplace which wasn't lit as it was a warm day. Her shoes were abandoned on the floor, her bare feet curled up underneath her. Sarah had given her the shoes the other day, but he'd heard her complain to Jasmine about how she wasn't used to them and that they pinched her toes. He'd noticed since then that she kicked them off as often as possible.

Taver stood there for a while, just watching her read. He noticed the way her dark red hair glinted in the sun. The subtlest shifts it would make it shine in a different way, just inviting him to stare longer. Her green eyes skimmed down the pages rather quickly, she was obviously a fast reader. Finally he straightened and cleared his throat. In the quiet room it was very loud and she jumped, looking up in alarm.

"Oh! Hello Taver. Come to find a book to read?" Scarlet asked, blushing a bit. He smiled at her and sat in the opposite chair.

"I'm not much of a reader I'm afraid." He said and he noticed her droop a bit. "Not that I wouldn't mind it, I'm just not a fast reader, so I don't enjoy it very much. My eyes switch letters around, it makes it hard." Her eyes widened in understanding. She'd heard of it happening to others and was very grateful that she was free of it.

"Well, if you'd like, I-I could read aloud to you." She asked shyly. Taver smiled at her gratefully. He hadn't expected that! He'd expected pity or sadness on his part maybe. Instead, she had turned it around and made it something that she could help with. He was already off guard about her; no other girl had been able to do that before.

"I'd like that." He said and her smile grew. She flipped back to the beginning of her book, and started to read. At first he had trouble concentrating on the words. Taver could rarely sit still, even on the best of days. He kept thinking about other things he'd like to do, most of them revolving around his solar surfer. But something about Scarlet's voice was calming somehow. Soon he found himself unable to stop listening. She would subtly change her own voice for each character, giving them all personality and bringing them to life. She made even the boring part of the story seem interesting, and the most exciting parts had him sitting on the edge of his seat. The two of them continued in this fashion for hours, and only once the sun went down and she could no longer see the words clearly did Scarlet stop.

"What? What happens next?" Taver asked hurriedly, and she smiled at him.

"Taver, I've been reading for hours! I can't see what I'm reading anymore, and I'll lose my voice if I go on. And if that happens, then how am I supposed to read to you tomorrow?" She stood with a sly smile and left the library, leaving him speechless. He sat in shock for a few minutes. For someone who had never flirted before, she wasn't too bad at it. And she had said that she'd read more tomorrow. As he thought that, he stood with a smile heading to his room. Suddenly he was really looking forward to the next day.

Scarlet spent all the next morning outside. She sat at a table on the porch and wrote down short stories. The children loved them, and she was hoping to someday publish them for children all over the galaxy. At lunch she made herself a sandwich rather than ask one of the people working in the kitchen to make her anything. They were busy enough with the lunch crowd; she didn't want to add on to their work load. She took her sandwich into the common room and ate by herself at a small table in the corner. She watched the people all around her, laughing at them sometimes. People watching was one of her favorite activities. Once she was done, she went towards the library, wondering if Taver would actually show up. She entered the room and had to laugh to herself. Taver was already there sitting in his chair and looking restless. He looked at the door when he heard her enter and smiled. She went to her chair and sat down, kicking off her shoes and curling her feet under her. He smiled at that, though Scarlet didn't know why. She blushed a bit, knowing that it was customary for civilized people to wear shoes. But Taver didn't comment; he just leaned forward eagerly.

"So what happens next?" he asked, and she giggled.

"Hello to you too. Do you want me to tell you or would you rather me read some more?" Taver chuckled a bit, laughing at his own eagerness. He couldn't help it though! The story had been on his mind all day. When he'd gone flying that morning with Charlie, his friend had asked if he was alright, as he wasn't being near as reckless as usual. And despite his safer flying, he still came near to crashing at least three times from his mind wandering.

"Sorry, hi. But if you wouldn't mind reading out loud some more, I'd be the happiest guy in the galaxy." Taver said with a grin. She smiled back.

"And tell me eager sir, if I don't leave you at a cliffhanger today when I finish, will you come back again tomorrow?" she blushed at her own audacity, but didn't look away. He blushed as well.

"I'll be back every day if you don't mind reading to me." he looked at his shoes, but Scarlet beamed. When he glanced up, she tried to hide how happy she was, but her eyes were sparkling and her face glowed with pleasure. He sat back in his chair and she opened the book to where they'd left off and went on, her smile staying put the entire time, and Taver once again watching her.

They continued reading every day until it was time to leave. Scarlet then packed as many books as she possibly could and they agreed to continue the tradition on the journey. Charlie had walked in on one of their sessions one day when he returned a book, and had snuck right back out again. He had been wondering where Taver had been disappearing too these past afternoons, and this explained it. At first he thought Taver was using the reading as an excuse to spend time with Scarlet, but realized that he was getting the good end of the deal. He was really enjoying the reading periods, and was getting to spend time with the girl at the same time. He didn't think he had ever seen Taver sit so still.

Charlie then went down into town, entering the butterfly garden. He found Jasmine sitting at a table there, writing something, and he sat down across from her. She was so absorbed in what she was doing that when she glanced up she jumped in surprise.

"When did you get here?" she asked, placing a hand on her heart to calm herself. He chuckled at her.

"A few minutes ago. What are you working on that keeps so oblivious?" he looked curiously at the book, and she closed it with a blush.

"It's a journal. So much has been happening that I feel overwhelmed. So I got a journal to write down everything that happens and everything I feel." She looked down at her clasped hands and finally back up at him. She did indeed look overwhelmed. "I'm scared." She admitted softly.

"Of what? Jasmine, you are the bravest girl I've ever met! After everything you've done in your life, why does this scare you?" She was blushing at the compliments, but she gave his question serious thought before answering. She was chewing on her bottom lip, a habit he'd noticed a while back. She always did when thinking. Finally she looked up again.

"I don't understand this. Everything in my life has been very straightforward. Steal enough, or you'll be hit. Behave or you won't get supper. Look after the younger children so they don't get hurt. Even though we've traveled all over, I haven't seen much of anywhere. Simon always made us camp in the most remote places of the planets where we went. And after all that…sure it was hard, but I understood it. This…this I don't understand. Somewhere in my family, someone was cursed by a voodoo priestess for some unknown reason by an unknown person. And now I have to go to an unknown location, maybe more than one, and solve a confusing riddle and find some unknown treasure. Before this I've always known what to do…and now I don't." she was looking at her hands again, which were clenched together. It looked like she was trying to keep from crying. Charlie scooted his chair over until he was next to her and put his arms around her. She leaned into his shoulder, allowing a tear to fall. "I can't help but be scared Charlie. I have no idea what's coming anymore." He pushed her away and put his hands on her shoulders. He looked into her eyes and smiled encouragingly.

"Jasmine, this little curse of yours has given all of us the opportunity of a lifetime. Yes the future may be more unclear now, but just think how much better it can be after it's all over! You'll be able to live a good life and do whatever you want to do! If you had money now, what would you do with it?" he asked her. She bit her lip again and smiled.

"I'd open an orphanage. I want to help all the kids in the galaxy who don't have families, and find them good homes where they'll be taken care of. And in the meantime they'll have lots of friends with me and the other kids and have good meals and a nice bed. If I had money I could give them that." She looked back up at him, hope in her eyes. He nodded happily.

"Exactly! So maybe this confusing mess will get figured out, and hopefully you'll be able to open your orphanage once it's over. You'll be making quite the difference Jasmine." He said with a smile. She grinned back and she suddenly hugged him tightly. She pulled back, blushing soon after.

"Thanks Charlie. Now, if you don't mind, I suddenly have a lot I want to write down. You can stay but like you said, I'll be completely oblivious." She laughed.

"In that case I'll stay to make sure that you aren't stolen away without your own knowledge." She stuck out her tongue at him and he laughed settling into his chair to reread the book he hadn't been able to put away. Jasmine grinned to herself and went back to her journal. She suddenly had a lot of hope for the future and wanted to write down her change of heart, and about her changing feelings for the boy who had helped her get there.

* * *

_Another chapter, hurray ^^ I just gotta say, I love Taver, he's just so awesome ^^_

_I hope everyone enjoyed it, and please review! I love knowing what my readers think of my work :)_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Finally the day arrived for the journey to begin. Everyone spent the morning dashing around making sure everything was together next to the front door, and hugging whoever was there to see them off. When they were certain they were ready, everyone piled their supplies into the longboat that had been flown to the front door to take them to the ship. The ship itself was still a pirate ship and well known by authorities. So, they'd docked in the maze of canyons on Montressor rather than on the Space Port high above them. When they reached the ship, Silver waved around grandly.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to The Dragonspear!" The four young adults smiled at Silver's pride. It was obvious he loved the ship dearly. Taver looked around, and with the eye of a true mechanic noticed that the ship had been made from the best parts of other ships. Even the wooden railings were one of the trademarks on the ships made for Ambassadors. He wondered what the layout was like as far as the lower decks went. Silver noticed he was itching to explore and waved a finger at him. "Young Taver, you must wait until I've at least showed you lot to your cabins." He said. "Just leave our stuff in the longboat; my crew will see that it all gets to where it needs to be."

Silver then led them below deck. The staircase they took went to a hallway with the various cabins. Silver's was right in front so he could easily get outside to give orders. His first mate was a large man with an eagle's head. His name was Mr. Dorian, and surprisingly he took to the younger group quickly. He seemed to have a soft spot for the delicate redheaded Scarlet, and Jasmine giggled had to laugh at the odd pair they made. His cabin was on the opposite wall from the Captain's. Behind them were two more cabins, which Silver announced as theirs. The girls would be sharing one and the boys another. Jasmine eagerly entered her room to see two beds built into the walls on either side of the door. In the back, there were two chairs attached to the floor so they wouldn't slide around and small table between them, attached in the same fashion. A large porthole sat in the wall, allowing them to see outside while still being airtight. The boy's room was exactly the same, simply flipped as they were on the opposite side of the ship.

Back up on deck, Silver gave them a verbal tour of the ship, knowing they'd see it for themselves soon enough. The other set of stairs went down to the galley, which had access to the various storage holds of the ship. The crew's sleeping quarters could be reached by following the hall past their own cabins. Whereas most captains would have taken the large rooms above deck for their own, Silver had turned them into a place for his men to relax. There were couches and tables, even a pool table! Part of the room held a large desk which was off limits to everyone but Silver, but overall, it was a wonderful way to keep the crew on your side. Jasmine had no doubts of their loyalty though. As they'd walked around, Silver received cheerful hellos from his crew members rather than formal greetings.

As they prepared to take off, they heard sirens. Charlie spun and leaned over the edge of the railing.

"Police Bots!" he yelled. Silver turned and started giving orders.

"Get a move on lads, we need to go!" he said as Jasmine joined Charlie at the railing.

"How is it they didn't find the ship until now?" she mused aloud. Silver came to the railing with a smirk.

"I called 'em of course!" he said, and grinned at their confused looks."Actually, Sarah called 'em. This way, no one knows she's on friendly terms with us pirates. It keeps things a bit simpler for the good woman." He gave the police bots a glare as they drew nearer. "They moved a bit faster that I'd expected though. Drop the sails!" he shouted, going back to his men. Even as the sails dropped, the solar power of the ship charged surprisingly quickly. Taver told them it was thanks to the fact that the sails were a new model from the navy ships. Moments later, they were shooting off into space. Jasmine held her scarf to her head as the initial burst pulled them out of the planet's atmosphere, laughing the whole time.

"I never get tired of this!" she said jovially, the smile on her face mirroring the faces of the other three.

"What a way to start off this trip with a bang, eh?" Taver said teasingly to Scarlett who giggled and nodded.

The weeklong trip to Bornia was uneventful. Rather disappointingly so after their exciting start. Scarlett and Taver continued their reading every afternoon, Jasmine danced and Charlie started learning to play a fiddle from a man with six fingers on each hand. Needless to say, he had to work a bit harder at it than the six fingered man did. As they prepared to land, Silver brought them on deck to teach them about the Dragonspear. He described to the group the different things that needed doing as Mr. Dorian gave the orders. He wanted them to learn so that they could help, he didn't like giving them a completely free ride. Scarlet was soon excused from the instruction as she was already in charge of the galley. The crew had been ecstatic to have a real cook once more on board and went out of their way to help the girl as she cooked three meals a day for such a large hungry bunch.

When they finally landed on the ice planet, Jasmine wished she'd brought warmer clothes. Her normal outfit was fine for a desert planet like Montressor, but for a place constantly covered in snow she was a _little_ chilly. Thankfully Silver had extra jackets on board in case some didn't have one. Charlie had a thick coat that his mother Alex had made him, a deep red color. Taver's was brown leather, and already covered in grease spots from working in the engines while wearing it. Jasmine was given a long coat of deep blue while Scarlett's was green. Both were a similar style, lined and edged with white fur. Silver seemed to be fine in the long black coat he always wore. The group descended to the surface of the planet in silence. They'd have a ways to walk a ways in order to reach the hot springs. They'd docked the ship behind a distant snowdrift the size of a mountain, so the authorities wouldn't find it while they were gone.

There was a line to go into the mountain, but they bypassed it and entered the cave directly seeing as they weren't here for the spa treatment the others would pay out their noses for. The cavern they found was enormous. Stalactites and stalagmites hung from the ceiling and rose from the ground. Some had met each other they'd been there so long, and the most ancient ones were as thick as tree trunks. Everywhere there were steaming pools of obviously hot water. The group removed their coats gratefully in the warm air. In the distance, a large slide had been made, and children from all over the galaxy were enjoying themselves. Meanwhile, the parents and other adults sat in the pools to talk, or lay on one of the hundreds of tables along one side of the cavers to get a massage. Scarlet had to wonder how they knew to massage the different aliens.

And everywhere the group looked, were the Bornian people, who worked at the hot springs. They were a pale bunch with white skin, blue eyes and hair. Their skin seemed almost translucent. Their fingers were webbed, and they had claws rather than fingernails. Those were useful for carving through solid ice. As the group wandered aimlessly, the Bornians didn't even seem to notice them which suited them just fine.

"So…this is the place the riddle said to go right? Shouldn't I be going into a trance again?" Jasmine asked. Scarlett watched the boys look at each other and shrug. But then Jasmine's eyes turned purple and the red head gasped. Charlie saw and grabbed Jasmine's arm, dragging her out of sight behind a pillar. It was just in time too, because seconds later, Jasmine was glowing brightly and looking towards the roof of the large cave. When she spoke, Scarlett had to shudder, it was very different from Jasmine's regular voice and she didn't like it at all.

"_The next clue to this mystery_

_Can be found on a planet of History._

_Where Pharaohs rule, and the Nile provides life,_

_There's a specific spot you'll next need to find."_

When the gypsy girl collapsed, Charlie was ready. He caught her limp body and lowered it gently to the floor. He looked at Taver who was writing the riddle in a notebook, and Silver who was tapping his chin thoughtfully.

"Well at least the planet is obvious this time, but the specific place it spoke of will be harder to find than this place." The old pirate muttered.

"So it is Bestet then?" Scarlet asked, double checking. Silver nodded and she grinned. Taver was confused. As Silver picked up Jasmine and they walked back out of the cave and towards the ship he walked next to Scarlett.

"I haven't heard of Bestet." Taver said and she smiled.

"It's an old planet, like the riddle said 'a planet of history'. They haven't changed their ways in the thousands of years they've lived. You know about the Pyramids right?" she asked, and he nodded.

"I know about them, but I didn't know they were on Bestet."

"Well the entire planet is desert, with a single river flowing around the circumference of the planet. It doesn't begin or end; it's just one huge circle of a river. That's the Nile. Most of the planet's cities are along the Nile since it's the only water source to be found."

"So where might the clue be?"

"I honestly don't know, the riddle was so vague…" They remained silent all the way back to the ship, all of them trying to think of some clue in the riddle that might help. Jasmine was laid on her bed, and everyone went back to whatever they'd been doing before they'd landed on Bornia. They took off without a problem and started on their journey to Bestet.

Shortly after Scarlett served supper, Jasmine awoke. She looked around, confused for a moment, before remembering what had happened. She hopped out of her bed and made her way to the galley. There she got a bowl of Scarlett's chili and sat at a table with Charlie and Taver.

"How are you feeling?" Charlie asked her as she took her seat. Taver waved a hand at her as a hello, too busy shoveling food into his mouth to speak.

"Good as gold." She said with a grin. "So what was the riddle?" she asked right off, unable to curb her curiosity. Taver handed her his notebook without slowing down, and she laughed. She flipped open to the last page and read the new riddle.

"So we're heading to Bestet then?" Now Taver stopped eating.

"Am I the only one who didn't know what it was talking about?" he asked, and she patted him on the shoulder.

"It's just payback for you being the only one to know the last riddle." She said with fake sympathy. He snorted and went back to his food.

"Thif if ama-ing!" he exclaimed with is mouth full. The others laughed, including Scarlet as she joined them with her own bowl of the chili.

"Well I'm very happy you like it Taver. Though I'm surprised how well you've withstood the spiciness."

"Spiciness? What spiciness?" Taver asked. Suddenly his mouth started burning furiously and he gulped the glass of water Scarlet had just placed in front of him. She giggled.

"If you weren't shoveling so quickly, you may have noticed that _before_ you had eaten a whole half bowl. Then it wouldn't burn as badly as is does now." She concluded her point by eating a small spoonful. He gave her a playful glare, which was impressive considering he was downing a third glass of water.

"And three…two…one…" Charlie counted down in Jasmine's ear. She giggled when Taver hopped to his feet.

"Gotta pee, be back in a moment." The moment he was out of earshot, the other three burst into laughter. Laughter which only got worse when Taver returned, but he simply joined in good naturedly.

The rest of the trip was spent getting to know the ship and each other better. Scarlet and Taver made it through two books. Mostly because they both enjoyed their reading sessions so much that they spent longer and longer in them each day. Scarlet also started working with Taver on his own reading. Helping him to get over his dyslexia, or at least deal with it better. Jasmine was teaching the crew a simple dance that they could all do individually or together, and went perfectly with Mr. Dorian's accordion playing, and the fiddle played by the six-fingered man. Charlie joined the dancing lessons. As a student at first, but he learned so quickly that he was usually helping Jasmine to teach. In turn, he taught her to sword fight. He'd been the captain of his school's fencing team, and was happy to share. She also learned quickly, and was becoming a real challenge for him. She said it was because fencing reminded her of a dance, with specific steps to follow and improvisation on when to do the moves.

And they arrived at Bestet sooner than any of them expected. They'd all been having such a good time that it was odd to think of spending their days doing anything else. As they drew nearer to the planet, the artificial gravity was turned off and the real gravity came into play. And though the air wasn't compositionally different, it still tasted odd after weeks with the recycled air on the ship. Jasmine was glad to take a breath of the fresh air, but Scarlet found herself missing being among the stars.

The air on Bestet was hot and dry. So dry that they all felt the need to carry water flasks with them. The sun blasted on the ground as if it had actual force, and they all felt the odd weight and warmth. Montressor was a desert planet, but this was beyond the worst conditions ever got back on Taver and Charlie's home planet. Yet the people here seemed to think it was a lovely spring day, which for them it probably was.

"Ugh…I'd hate to be here during the summer." Scarlet muttered, and Taver nodded in agreement. The four teens stood on the deck and watched as people went by. They all had dark skin and wore all white clothing. However, they wore a lot of clothing. The first instinct of the kids was to take off as many layers as possible while still remaining decent. But the people of Bestet seemed to think that covering more skin was better. Scarlet tried wrapping her shawl around her shoulders once more and smiled after a few minutes. The thin cloth was light enough to allow the tiny breeze though, but enough to block the sun from beating on her skin. It did wonders, and she was happy to share her find with the others. Silver joined them at the rail soon after.

"Since the riddle wasn't very specific, we might need to walk around quite a bit before we find the spot where the next riddle will be triggered." He said, tucking his telescope into his belt. Jasmine took a deep breath and led the way to the gang plank.

"Well then, let's get started!" she said cheerfully, and the others followed her down into this new world. As they wandered, they all looked around in fascination. The city they'd landed in was huge! Scarlet didn't know if the city actually ended. For all she knew, it followed the Nile all around the planet's circumference. The market was her favorite place so far. There was so much going on and so many things to see. And everything was so colorful! The people might wear all white clothing, but their jewelry and other accessories were some of the most beautiful pieces she'd ever seen.

Jasmine was enjoying the market as well, especially all the small things she'd pilfered. The tiny trinkets could easily be sold on other planets they'd be visiting, and she wasn't going to complain about extra pocket money. But the most interesting thing was when she casually reached to fingers into the pocket of a boy a little older than her, only to find him doing the same to her! She turned to the boy and he looked back at her. They both smirked and started laughing.

"Well that's not something that happens every day." The boy said with a thick accent. She smiled back.

"Not really no." she said. "But I can't blame a fellow pickpocket for trying."

"Trying? I would have succeeded if you hadn't been doing the same to me."

"As would I." she answered.

"Jasmine, who's your friend?" Silver said, placing his hand on her shoulder. The boy looked into the man's face and back at her.

"Jasmine you say? Beautiful name. Almost as lovely as yourself of course. I am Rashid."

"He's a fellow thief it seems." Jasmine said, crossing her arms and expertly hiding her blush at his flirtation.

"Jasmine, you weren't stealing again, were you?" Scarlet said, appearing at her side. Now Jasmine did flush a bit.

"Not too much, just little things. No diamond necklaces this time, I promise." She said sheepishly.

"What about one made of gold and rubies instead?" Rashid asked, dangling the trinket in front of her face. She snatched it and hid it in her fist.

"What do you think you're doing?! Dangling such finery in the air like it's not worth anything…" Jasmine opened her fist to look at the lovely piece and whistled low under her breath. "And it's obviously worth a lot."

"A gift to you, consider it a welcome to Bestet."

"Why would _you_ be giving away things like this?" Charlie asked, looking slightly annoyed. "Aren't you stealing for yourself?" Rashid gave a cocky smile and a salute.

"Maybe, but I can easily get better." He said with a wink. Charlie crossed his arms, not trusting the boy.

"Well, you obviously know this place well." Silver said to the boy. Rashid finally looked away from Jasmine and up at the old cyborg. "Think maybe you could give us a tour?" Rashid's friendly smile grew.

"But of course! No one knows this city better than I, I assure you. And it gives me an excuse to visit the sights." He smiled at Jasmine who grinned back. She liked this boy; he was a lot like her. Scarlet saw the smile and looked at Charlie's scowl. She smiled a bit herself, maybe this would get Charlie to say something to Jasmine about the way he felt. There was nothing like a good dose of competition to make a boy speak up for himself. Taver seemed to notice the same thing and smiled at her. She grinned back and put her hand shyly in his. He unconsciously tightened his grip a bit when Rashid smiled at the red head, and Scarlet smiled as he turned away. Nothing like a little competition indeed.

* * *

_Chapter five, woohoo! I like Rashid, he makes things interesting XD And Taver remains awesome!_

_Bestet is actually the name of an ancient Egyptian cat goddess, that's where I got the name from ^^_

_I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, please review!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_

_(P.S. I posted the final chapter of my Lord of the Rings story tonight, I'd love it if everyone would go read it Well, them :P)  
_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Rashid was an excellent tour guide. He took them all over the city, to the point that the rest were ready to die from exhaustion. Normally they would have been fine, but the unnatural heat and dryness was taking its toll. Several times, Rashid left them somewhere shady to rest and came back with a water jug. And each time, he was welcomed back with a grateful smile. Soon even Charlie was having a hard time disliking the boy. He would have liked him just fine if he didn't flirt with Jasmine so much.

They got to see the great pyramids, the temples and the pharaoh's palace, but he also showed them where the papyrus was made, the palace kitchens, and where the slaves lived. Though the guests didn't appreciate the plight of some of the lower class people, they did appreciate that Rashid cared for them as much as the important rulers. When they finally stopped for the night, they were back in the market where they'd started. The bunch was in process of saying thank you and goodbye when many people with lanterns started converging on them. Rashid was suddenly gone, and the rest was surrounded. Jasmine squinted through the glare of the lanterns and saw that it was the city guards.

"Do you lot know who your guide today has been?" One said, snarling and stepping forward out of the glare.

"Just a helpful boy we met 'ere in the market earlier." Silver said with a shrug.

"Was his name Rashid?" the guard asked, pointing his sickle like sword at the pirate's throat.

"That might have been it, yeah." Silver said, his cyborg eye twirling angrily.

"In that case, you were assisting a known thief and general criminal." In the midst of their shock, the guard gave them an almost pitying smile. "You are all under arrest." The silence was broken as they were all grabbed and dragged though the streets. The four teens and Silver were all struggling and shouting whatever they thought might help; whether it was protests, curses, or in Silver's case, threats. It only took one man to hold Scarlet, but two to hold Jasmine, three for each Charlie and Taver, and five for Silver, a sixth helping when he was needed.

Before they knew it, they were being pulled through the front gates of the Pharaoh's Palace, the very one they'd admired from afar earlier that day. They were dragged through a huge hall of alabaster stone, and down a side door to what they all assumed was the dungeon. They were right. A special device was placed on the back of Silver's skull, which deactivated his cyborg parts. Half his body went limp and he fell to the ground heavily. Jasmine was shouting at the guards angrily, tears running down her face at their cruelty. Ignoring her, the guards placed each of them in a separate cell right down one side of the hall so they couldn't see each other. Scarlet, then Taver, Charlie, Jasmine and finally Silver. Each cell was fronted by iron bars with only a single door, and the walls floor and ceiling were made of perfectly polished smooth marble. Jasmine was sobbing in anger while Scarlet's tears came from fear.

Finally Jasmine went silent, so quiet that Charlie got worried. He crawled to the front of his cell, on the side closest to Jasmine's.

"Hey." He said quietly, not wanting to bring on the guards wrath once again. "You ok?" Jasmine came to the front of her cell as well so she could whisper back.

"Oh I'm grand." She said with a sunny voice. "This is exactly what I wanted to happen before we went to sleep tonight." Charlie raised an eyebrow, and though she couldn't see it she knew what was happening. Her voice toned down once more to her actual emotions. "I'm alright for now." She said in a soft voice, she was obviously tired.

"Is he ok?" Charlie whispered to her, referring to Silver. She shrugged, then remembered he couldn't see her.

"I'm not sure, let me go check." She crawled to the other side of the cell and called out to the old pirate.

"Silver? Are you alright?" she asked. She heard a growl from the other cell.

"Oh I'm grand." He said, and she almost laughed. She'd said the exact same thing. "That little device they stuck on me head doesn't come off, I can tell you that much…so I'm stuck being half a man until they take it off for me."

"You're not hurt though, right?"

"No, just stuck. I'm fine lassie, go tell you man so." He said, a chuckle entering his voice. Jasmine smiled and went back to Charlie's side of her cell.

"He's grumpy, but alright." She informed her friend.

"Well that's something I suppose." Charlie said with a sigh. She heard him slide down the wall of his cell to sit on the ground. "This is really messed up." He growled. Jasmine sighed herself.

"I know. It isn't fair! Why should they arrest us, we didn't do anything wrong."

"Um…Jasmine…those trinkets you pilfered this morning…" Jasmine chuckled.

"All made it into the pockets of the poorer slaves we passed." She admitted. She could hear the grin in Charlie's voice.

"Not going soft are we?" he teased. Her smile faded a tiny bit.

"Not any softer than I was before." She said with a sigh. She saw Charlie's hand next to her. He was reaching around the wall between their cells. She took his hand gratefully. It was a simple gesture, but it meant a lot.

"Of course not." He said, answering her last statement. They sat in silence for a few moments when Charlie noticed a purple glow coming from Jasmine's cell. She let go of his hand and he pressed his face against the bars trying to see her.

"Jasmine?" he called, and the glow grew brighter. "Taver, get out that pad of paper you have and get ready for a new riddle!"

"Really?" said Taver's voice from the cell next to him. Charlie heard the rustle of paper as the notebook was brought out. "Ok, ready." He was just in time too, because the creepy voice came from Jasmine's cell barely three seconds later.

"_You've seen the rich, you've seen the poor,_

_Now you cannot just walk out the door._

_You must find a way to escape,_

_To a planet of swamps, in mist encased."_

As the voice that wasn't Jasmine's came to a stop, Charlie heard her body fall to the floor.

"Jasmine!" he shouted, hearing Silver do the same. He pressed his face once more to the bars, hoping to get a peek at the girl to make sure she was alright. "Guard!" Charlie finally called out. A guard came down the hall to them and stopped in front of Jasmine's cell.

"What happened to her?" he asked hesitantly.

"We don't know." Charlie went on. "She just collapsed. Please, let me make sure she's alright." He pleaded. The guard hesitated, and then nodded. He opened the door to Charlie's cell and held his sword to the boy's throat. He then shoved him into Jasmine's cell, locking the door behind him. Charlie hopped over Jasmine's body so as not to trip right over her, and then turned.

"You can stay in there." The guard informed him. "An unconscious girl won't do you any good." He walked back to his post down the hall and Charlie kneeled next to the gypsy girl.

"Jasmine?" he whispered, but knew it was futile. She wouldn't wake up for a time. He rolled her over so that she was in a more comfortable position than sprawled on the floor, and held her torso on his lap. He sat back against the wall, exhausted himself.

"Is she alright?" Silver asked from next door. Charlie looked down at her.

"Just asleep like she usually is after a riddle." He told the pirate. He heard Silver sigh and relax a bit.

"Well that was the worst possible timing." He said grumpily, but was soon snoring. Charlie listened to hear Taver and Scarlet both breathing deep and slow, asleep themselves. He told himself he should stay awake to keep an eye on things, but was too tired to do so. His eyes soon closed shut and his head leaned back against the wall, and he was as sound asleep as the others.

"What are you doing here?!" was the next thing he heard. He blinked his eyes open and looked out the bars of his cell. It was Rashid! Except…rather than the ragged cloth he'd been had wrapped around his waist earlier, he now wore one which was freshly ironed, starched and pleated, and bright white enough that it was hard to look at. It wasn't only that though, but the golden collar he wore, the gold bracelets and armbands, the straw sandals, and the perfumed black wig. Charlie's eyes were wide, and he lowered Jasmine to the floor so he could stand and take in the sight before him.

"Rashid?" he asked, unable to believe it. Rashid shushed him, glancing down the hall where the guard stood.

"Its Ankhra here." He whispered furiously. Charlie glared right back, his hands clenched into fists.

"So which is your real name then?" he asked. Rashid/Ankhra looked at his sandaled feet, embarrassed.

"Ankhra is…I use Rashid when I'm out in disguise in the city." He explained, but Charlie wasn't buying. The other boy's eyes went wide at the sight of Jasmine on the ground. "What happened to her?!" he asked in a small panic.

"She's alright, just tired. Now who are you really? You're obviously not the street boy we thought you were." Ankhra looked back up at him, a fire in his eyes.

"Rashid is more who I really am than who I was born to be." He tried to explain. "I am Ankhra, the son of Pharaoh, heir to the throne of this city, and the son of Ra." He said, but it was obvious even to Charlie that the titles were nothing more than words to him. "I never wanted any of this." He said, waving at the finery adorning his body. "And the wigs itch something awful." He complained, pulling the thing off and inspecting the inside. Charlie had to laugh. The sound was loud enough to wake up the others.

"Who's out there?" Silver asked, still half asleep. Ankhra stepped sideways and grinned and waved at the old pirate.

"Just me!"

"Just you?" Silver almost shouted, but he contained himself. "It's your fault we're here in the first place! And what's with the fancy getup?" Ankhra grinned again.

"_That_ Charlie will have to explain to you later. For now, we're getting you out of here." He pulled a skeleton key out of his wig and Charlie chuckled.

"No wonder it itches." He teased. The boy grinned at him and unlocked all the cages. He then grabbed a small device off of the wall and pointed it at Silver. He pressed a button and a beam of bright blue light went to the man. The device on the back of Silver's head then came loose, falling to the floor. Silver stomped on it with satisfaction, using his cyborg leg which was now working just fine.

"The rest of you stay inside for now. Charlie, I need you to help me with a little distraction." Ankhra said and whispered in the boy's ear what his plan was. Charlie smiled and nodded eagerly. As Ankhra pulled open his door, Charlie whispered to him.

"It'll be easy to pretend I want to kill you." Ankhra looked slightly scared then shouted.

"Guards! Guards, help me, the prisoner is escaping!" he then took off down the hall, Charlie right on his heels. The guards jumped to action as well and chased the boys as they ran off. Silver chuckled a bit and pushed open the door to his cell.

"Come on you two." He said to Taver and Scarlet. They came out of their cells as well as Silver went into Jasmine's cell and easily lifted her off the floor. "I think that's all the distraction we're going to get, let's find a way out of here." He led the way up the stairs, but then let Taver take the lead. The boy would dash down hallways, peering around corners to make sure there was no one about. Thankfully it was the middle of the night, so there weren't very many people awake to be wandering about the palace. They reached the main hall easily and sat in a corner behind the pillars to wait for Charlie and Ankhra. The boys came running towards them a few minutes later, both chuckling.

"Well we lost 'em." Charlie announced happily.

"Very easily." Ankhra pointed out. "The guards don't know all the nooks and crannies of this palace like I do." He said proudly. He led the group through a secret passage which ended up outside behind the papyrus rushes along the riverside. "I'm afraid this is where I must say goodbye." The prince announced. "The marketplace is only a short distance that way, and your ship hasn't been moved. I need to go back and keep the guards confused until you can get off planet." He had a mischievous smile on his face, and the others knew the poor guards were going to have a long night. Charlie stuck out his hand to shake.

"Well I'll give you one thing. Life with you isn't boring." He said with a smile. Ankhra shook his hand and grinned back. "So long Prince Ankhra." Before the others realized what he'd said, the prince was gone, back through the secret passage.

"Wait…what?" Scarlet asked, very confused. "He's a prince?!" Charlie nodded, leading them back through the market place and towards the Dragonspear.

"He's next in line to be Pharaoh actually." He said casually. Taver however stopped short.

"You mean that street rat is actually royalty?!" he exclaimed and Charlie chuckled.

"Yeah. Yeah he is." He smiled, though he knew he and the Prince would never be friends. He was a good man, and Charlie had had every right to be suspicious. He looked at Jasmine who still slept in Silver's arms as they walked up the gangplank. And…maybe a bit jealous he admitted to himself. Silver then handed the gypsy girl to him and went to give orders to his joyful crew to take off. Charlie carried the girl down to her room, laying on her bed and covering her with the blankets. He freely admitted to himself that the reason behind his dislike of Rashid/Ankhra was because he kept flirting with Jasmine. He sat on the side of her bed and looked at her. But he remembered something else. Jasmine never responded to the flirting done by the prince. Unlike the few things Charlie had done, where she'd been unable to control her blush or her smile. A smile graced his own features as he realized that maybe she liked him back.

Jasmine stirred slightly, and as she came back to life she was confused. She'd lost consciousness in the cell, why was the floor so soft? She realized she was on a bed and opened her eyes. She was back on the ship, the whole room vibrating slightly as the hip left the atmosphere. She also noticed a certain boy with blue eyes sitting on her bed.

"What?" she asked, her voice croaking. He poured her a glass of water. For a moment, the water hovered in midair as they left gravity. When the ship's gravity turned on, it sloshed down into the cup. Some of it missed and splashed onto Charlie's lap. He groaned, looking at the ceiling and Jasmine giggled. She sat up and took the glass from him, sipping it gratefully. "You just have bad timing." She informed him when she was hydrated again. He chuckled, looking at his soaked knee.

"Apparently." She smiled, taking another gulp of the water.

"So…how exactly did we get back here?" she asked, and he burst out laughing.

"Oh, you're never going to believe this." He said, then told the tale of everything. By the end of the explanation, she was still I shock.

"He was a prince?!" she said, her jaw hanging open. He pushed it closed for her and she glared as he grinned. "A _prince_ was flirting with me! Maybe I should have been a bit nicer." She said with a mischievous grin. He glared at her now.

"If you had I would have punched him." He said heatedly. Her smile brightened the tiniest bit.

"Really? You would have fought over me?" she said, her eyes twinkling. He looked at her, blushing slightly.

"Yeah…" he finally said and smiled himself when she blushed too. He leaned forward slightly, and she did the same. Their lips were about to touch when the door flew open. They jumped backwards in their seats, water from Jasmine's glass sloshing over Charlie's lap once again. She burst into giggles, and he joined in at the irony. Scarlet didn't even notice, she was too excited about her news.

"We figured out the riddle!" she exclaimed. "It's Duclevar!" Jasmine raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't that a swamp planet?" she asked as Taver walked in.

"Well that's what the riddle you said was all about. He handed her his notebook which was flipped open to the page with her latest riddle. As she read it, Charlie asked how they'd figured it out. Scarlet was only too happy to explain.

"Well, Duclevar is a planet in the center of three suns. It doesn't orbit anything because the suns are all equal size and have equal pull on the planet. It does still spin, but since there are three suns, it doesn't really have a night or day." She explained sitting down on her own bed. "The planet is being constantly heated rather than getting a cool down period. The heat makes the moist ground create the mist, so from a distance, the planet looks like it's made of clouds." Charlie raised an eyebrow.

"Wow…sounds like a scientific marvel." He said. "Wonder if Doppler's been there?' he wondered aloud. Taver laughed.

"Almost certainly! The moment he was out of diapers he was studying things, I'm sure." They all laughed. Though Scarlet stopped, lost in thought.

"But isn't that a good thing? That people are studying how things work?"

"Of course it is, but trust me on this." Taver said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Dr. Delbert Doppler is the most obsessed scientist in the whole galaxy. Even _you_ would get bored of hearing him ramble!" they all laughed again. The rest of that evening was spent in the girl's cabin since Jasmine was still tired. When the rest left to get food, they brought back a bowl for Jasmine, only to find that she'd dozed off. They all chuckled and went to sit in the boy's cabin instead. They'd have plenty of time to talk with Jasmine over the weeks it took them to get to Duclevar.

* * *

_Yayz for another chapter ^^ I hope you enjoyed it, please review!!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Jasmine shivered as they stepped out of the long boat and onto the damp ground. Duclevar was everything she'd expected it to be. Fog, ponds of murky water, and mossy trees were everywhere. Actually the trees were creepier than she'd expected. The moss was brown and scraggly, hanging in bunches so thick they almost reached the ground in some places. And everything was gloomy and warm. She shivered despite the temperature. She and Scarlet had both changed into pants because they'd all need boots to get anywhere on this marshy planet.

"Well we're here." Scarlet announced with false enthusiasm. "Now where do we go?"

"I don't know Little Miss, but I don't trust this place." said Mr. Dorian. Silver had decided to bring his first mate along on this venture, leaving the second mate in charge of the ship which was docked high in the air above them. They hadn't been able to land on the planet's surface, not only was there no room between the trees but they'd never have been able to see well enough to land through the mist. Silver was shaking his head.

"I don't trust it, but I don't have reason to _distrust_ it either…" he said, though his voice was soft. They were all being quiet for what seemed like no reason. There was something about the mist which made them all nervous. Jasmine scooted just the tiniest bit closer to Charlie and shyly took his hand. He held her's tightly, nervous himself but wanting to comfort her.

"Well the last riddle didn't come until we'd seen everything that we'd needed to see…maybe we should explore some?" Taver suggested to the others. They all nodded, Silver leading the way and Mr. Dorian bringing up the end of their line.

They hiked for almost an hour and Jasmine was sure they were completely lost. Everything looked the same! The trees which had once frightened her so were now only a nuisance as they walked around and between them. Logs that littered the planet's surface had to be climbed over. Some requiring everyone to help each other as they were taller than Silver and Dorian put together even while laying on their side! Jasmine had no idea how tall the trees were when they were upright, but she'd followed one fallen tree for at least five minutes while the others climbed up and over, and she hadn't seen either end.

Finally they reached what looked like a large lake. They didn't know how large exactly as the mist kept them from viewing the other side of it. The trees here were smaller but had long draping vines covered in leaves rather than actual branches. Mr. Dorian said they were called Weeping Willows. A name Jasmine thought was rather fitting. All along the edge of the water grew lily pads at least eight feet wide, with gigantic lotus buds. They looked like they might be three feet wide when they bloomed. And they were all glowing with a soft purple light. Charlie's eyes narrowed.

"That's the same purple shade you glow Jasmine." He told her. "During your riddles."

"Really?" she asked, though she wasn't really expecting an answer. She crept forward and reached forward to touch one of the lotus buds and a purple spark leapt from her finger to the tip of the tightly curled bud. She gasped and hopped backwards as the flower bloomed right before their eyes. In the center of the flower was a small orb. Jasmine reached forward hesitantly.

"Um…Jasmine, maybe you shouldn't actually touch it…" Scarlet ventured, but the older girl didn't hear. She was too busy staring at the incredible orb on the flower's center. It seemed like it might be made of glass, revealing purple, sparkling smoke swirling around inside of it. Her eyes glowed purple themselves as she picked up the orb but she didn't fall into the darkness which usually accompanied her riddle giving. She held the orb and looked at the others, confused.

"What's going on?" she asked but no one got the chance to answer.

"You thief! You crook! Now get away from the orb before you I cook!" they heard and everyone spun to see an odd looking girl between the trees, glaring at them. She had curly blue hair which had been pinned up and she had eyes that glowed the same color. She wore all white and blue clothing, but in layers which wouldn't have normally be put together. The result was lovely though, and showed off her perfect figure. It seemed to be inspired from the ancient Grecian clothing and the lotus blossoms of the lake. "Idiots, buffoons, you'll be sorry when I drown you in the lagoon!" she cried angrily. Taver raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you rhyming everything you say?" he asked and she rolled her eyed.

"That is something only someone stupid wouldn't know, rhyming is a part of the voodoo priestess code!" she told them. "Now state your purpose as to why you are here, and why that _girl_ is holding something so dear."

"What is it exactly?" Jasmine asked, inspecting the purple orb she held. The girl's eyes burned with fury and sadness.

"It is the essence, powerful and pure, of my grandmother who's….oh fiddlesticks." She grumbled. Everyone stared as she sat down heavily. Jasmine winced as she sat down right in the mud, fearing for her lovely clothing, but the girl didn't seem to mind. "I'm sorry, I'm trying really hard to be all protective and rhyme everything like I'm supposed to…it's a lot harder than you'd think." She said sadly. Scarlet went to her and kneeled, balancing on the balls of her feet.

"Who are you exactly?"she asked the sniffing girl.

"My name is Rika…I'm a voodoo priestess." The said sarcastically. "At least I'm supposed to be…" Scarlet went to sit down all the way but Rika stopped her. "Don't, your clothing will get all muddy! Here, you can all come with me." she stood, her own dress not even damp, let alone muddy. They all watched her as she walked out onto a lily pad and sat down. "Everyone take a lily pad." Rika told them, gesturing with her arms at the other available seats. Jasmine and Scarlet looked at each other and each carefully stepped onto the round flat leaves, both surprised when they were almost as stiff as boards. Rika laughed at the looks on their faces. "You don't have to worry, my powers are keeping them from sinking, you'll all be fine." Everyone else made their way to their own pads and sat down as she had, cross legged in the center of the leaf. Mr. Dorian was more hesitant since he was the largest of the bunch, but it was just as sturdy for him as for everyone else.

As they took a seat, Rika closed her eyes and concentrated. Her body began to glow a soft blue and the lily pads they were sitting on began to move. They traveled slowly through the mist of the lake, but soon lost sight of the shore. Jasmine looked at Charlie nervously, and he gave her a comforting smile. Scarlet shivered, she didn't like not knowing what was going to happen next. The water of the lake barely recognized their passage, the ripples the leaves created died only inches away from where they started.

Suddenly out of the mist loomed a great shadow which they realized was an island. It was surrounded by the glowing lotus buds and the weeping willow trees, and the land looked solid and stable rather than moist and marshy. They all climbed off of their leaves and onto the shore and Rika whistled a cheerful tune. Barely a moment later, a breeze circled the group and expanded until the mist was gone from the island. In the center of the island stood an odd house. It was haphazardly put together and many different styles were used in the building as if the expansions had all been made by different people at different times. Rika led them inside, and Scarlet expected it to be just as awkward looking as the outside.

She was pleasantly surprised to see that though the different rooms all had different styles, Rika had made them anything but awkward. They all tied together in some fashion, and were cozily comfortable. It was wonderfully eclectic and Scarlet loved it.

"Whenever I get a house of my own, I want to decorate it like this!" she exclaimed as she looked around. Rika blushed but smiled happily.

"Everything came from other planets." She told them. "Including the people who built the house. That's why everything looks so different. My grandfather used to travel, and he'd bring home things for the house from every place he went. It was our link the world." She looked fondly at the house but turned back with a large smile. "Anyone want something to drink?" she opened a chest in a corner which had been filled with ice that glowed a soft blue. "I magiked it so it'll never melt." She explained proudly. In the ice sat bottles and bottles of rum and other alcohol.

"Do have anything like…water?" Jasmine asked her, but Rika shook her head.

"I'm afraid not. The water here is anything but safe to drink, and I don't know the spell to purify it yet." She admitted. "This is safer in the long run." Taver and Charlie grinned at each other in triumph. Everyone grabbed a bottle and headed into the living room. Charlie instantly liked it, it was built in the same style as the Benboe Inn back on Montressor and he found it oddly comforting. They all took seats about the room and drank and chatted about their adventures. It didn't take long before everyone was a bit buzzed from the drinks, and Charlie was completely drunk.

"An Rashid kept flirting with Jasmine an I wanted ta punch 'im. An then the guards were there an they arresteded us meanly!" he announced and Rika giggled. They were telling her what had happened on Bestet and she was thoroughly enjoying it. "An then we went a jail an Jasmine turned purple and then Radish…Rashid…turned into Ankhra or whatever his name is…came back an got us out cuz he's the prince of the place!"

"Prince of what?" Rika asked looking to the others for clarification.

"Rashid turned out to be Ankhra, the Pharaoh's son and heir to the throne." Jasmine said wryly, still amazed at the irony of the whole situation. Charlie went on with his story with Rika laughing at almost every other word he said. Jasmine turned to Taver curiously. "Has Charlie ever had a drink of alcohol in his life?" she asked him and he shook his head almost sadly.

"Unfortunately he never raided his parent's liquor stores. I've raided his parent's liquor stores though." He told her with a laugh. "I feel sorry for the guy now, he'll have a nasty the hangover in the morning." Rika heard and smirked at him.

"No he won't, I have a potion for hangovers. I learned to make that one quick." She said and the others laughed.

"I don't know…maybe you should let him keep the hangover this time, it'll be a good lesson not to get completely drunk." Jasmine said slyly and Rika grimaced.

"He can learn that lesson when he can throw up all over someone else's house."

"Ew…point taken." Jasmine said quickly.

The rest of the night didn't end up lasting very long. Everyone was tired and the alcohol relaxed them farther so everyone was ready for an early bedtime. Jasmine helped Charlie stumble into an upstairs bedroom. She lay him down, helped to tuck him in securely and made sure he wouldn't get up again. Thankfully he just snuggled against his pillow and mumbled something nonsense and Jasmine smiled. She saw that there was a second bed in the room and went to go tell Taver where it was. She finally found him sound asleep on a bed in a different room and laughed. She also noticed there were no other free beds in the house. She sighed and went back into the room where Charlie slept and crawled into the second bed.

"G'night Jasmine." Charlie said with a yawn from the other bed. Jasmine couldn't help but smile again.

"Goodnight Charlie." She whispered back, and drifted off herself.

When she awoke, there was no sun shining and it already put a damper on her mood. She liked sunshine too much to give it up she decided. She couldn't wait until she was back on a planet with a real night and day, and no mist to block any of it. She heard a groaning coming from the other side of the room and sat up to look. Charlie had woken as well, and to what looked like quite the hangover. He'd put his pillow over his face to block what little light was actually there and was groaning at the sounds others were making about the house. She climbed out of bed and stood with a stretch. "Moring sleepy head!" she said cheerfully, knowing he'd hate it.

"Shush!" he exclaimed from under his pillow. "And don't walk so loud, it hurts." She stifled her giggles and lifted the pillow from his face.

"You know you only hurt so bad because you drank too much." She informed him and he squeezed his eyes shut.

"Gee thanks, never would have guessed."

"And Rika has a potion to get rid of it, but you have to make it down to the kitchen to get it yourself." She said and skipped downstairs leaving him to moan in pain some more.

As she joined the others who'd woken everyone grinned at her evil smile. They knew Charlie was in pain and that he'd learn from this little lesson. Scarlet was sitting on a large squashy chair in the living room and stretching. Apparently she'd slept there. Rika made good on her potion, giving everyone a bit to clear their heads and Charlie a larger dose to settle his hangover when he finally made it downstairs. As the boy slowly stopped whimpering at loud noises, Rika made breakfast with Scarlet's help. They were soon all sitting around the table with full plates of foods so delicious that none of them could describe it. After it was all gone they sat with cups of strong coffee and chatted some more. When they tried to apologize for taking up so much of Rika's supplies and talking so much she just waved it off. She said it was worth it to hear such amazing things.

Jasmine suspected Rika was lonelier than she let on. She had seen the other bedrooms in the house and knew that others used to be around. But there was no recent evidence of those other people actually being there. She finally got up the nerve to ask.

"So who else lives on this planet?" Rika shrugged.

"A lot of animals mostly, the only intelligent beings are only visitors for a short time. They usually stay here for a day or two, but generally it's just me."

"You're all alone here?" Jasmine asked, a bit horrified. She had only been alone once, and that was before Simon found her. After that there had always been other children working for Simon, and now she had her friends. Rika was nodding though.

"It wasn't too bad at first, because I still had Grandmamma." She said as she took a seat at the kitchen table. "Everyone else had left for a trip to one of Grandfather's favorite places. They left me to care for the house while they were gone. But they never came back. It was just me and Grandmamma then. She was training me in the voodoo arts when someone came." She said darkly.

"Who came?" Silver asked.

"A frightening man with six eyes. He said he was a pirate, and his crew called him Flint."

"Captain Flint?!" they all gasped and she nodded.

"He said he had hidden his treasure away, but the most priceless items he wanted to hide somewhere else in case it was found. And rather than the little electric ball he had for a map for the first place, he didn't want a physical object to show that there was even a second treasure to find."

"So he put it into some poor woman's head with voodoo magic." Silver said sitting down as well.

"My Grandmamma did specifically, though she didn't like it. If you're not a priestess, your body will reject the magic and give you horrid headaches."

"Tell me about it." Jasmine muttered.

"And the woman he wanted the map put into pregnant at the time, we weren't sure what might happen to the unborn child. The woman was terrified and very angry, Flint had to keep her tied up and watched at all times because she was so feisty. Her name was Sandy." Jasmine gasped and Silver looked up sharply.

"Sandy Lane?" he asked quickly and Rika nodded in surprise.

"Yes, that was her! Did you know her?" Silver laid his head in his hands.

"She was my wife." Everyone stared. Silver had been married! Charlie vaguely remembered overhearing his parents talking about Silver once being married but had never really believed it. Rika's hand was over her mouth.

"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to-" she cut off, unsure of what to say.

"She was pregnant you say? She was on her way to a doctor to find out for sure the day she was taken…" Silver said, staring at his hands on the table. "I searched for her and ne'r found her…what happened to the child, do you know?" Rika shook her head.

"They left, taking my Grandmamma with them. They were going to perform the spell away from here so no witnesses would be around to hear the locations Flint wanted included. But right before she left Grandmamma told me she'd had a vision a few days before. Of a human woman imbued with our magic, giving birth to a girl whose eyes were milky white as if she was blind but she'd be able to see just fine. I don't know if it was true or not." Jasmine's hands clenched together so tightly her knuckles turned white.

"It's true." She said flatly and everyone looked at her in confusion. "She grew up with those white eyes but never had problems seeing. Her name was Evelyn. And she was my mother." Tears were flowing down her face now as everyone stared at everyone else.

"Wait…" Charlie said, looking back and forth between Jasmine and Silver. "If you're Sandy's granddaughter…then Silver is your grandfather?!" he concluded in shock. The gypsy girl and pirate captain looked at each other.

"I guess so." Jasmine finally whispered softly.

* * *

_I'm soooo sorry this is so late! I kept trying to upload this yesterday and the day before and wouldn't accept anything, so I couldn't . Even though I would have been late anyways...sorry!  
_

_Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please please pleeeease review!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Everyone stared between Jasmine and Silver. To imagine that these two, a gypsy and a pirate, were actually related? Scarlet was finding it hard to get though her head. She'd always thought that Jasmine was just another orphan like her. But…apparently not.

Charlie was dumbfounded, his jaw hanging open comically. Silver, who he'd known his whole life, was the _grandfather_ of Jasmine, who he'd only known a few months but trusted completely. It was something so random, so out of the blue, that he couldn't believe that things had turned out this way.

Jasmine was just as surprised as everyone else. She'd never known her grandfather had been alive. And now that she did, and he was sitting right in front of her, she was worried, scared, and excited all at the same time. Finally Silver cleared his throat in the silence.

"If you don't mind, Jasmine and I are going to have a little talk." He said to the others. He stood and Jasmine followed him meekly out the front door. They went out to the front porch, which was roomy and had a roof over it, protecting the two from the drizzle that was falling from the sky. A swing hung from the roof and Jasmine sat there. Silver just stood at the railing looking out into the fog.

"So…Grandfather, huh?" Jasmine said a bit wryly. Silver chuckled as well.

"You think you're surprised? I suddenly have a family I didn't know about an hour ago. I have a daughter, and I assume a son-in-law as I have a granddaughter." He turned to look at her questioningly. Jasmine shook her head.

"Mum never had a husband. It's kind of complicated…" she said hesitantly. Silver turned fully and leaned against the railing. It creaked alarmingly at his bulk, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Well lassie, why don't you tell me the whole story then. Or what you know."

"I know some, let's see…" Jasmine muttered, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Grandma, or Sandy, was a very strong lady. I knew she'd been captured by pirates, but I didn't know why or who had done it. I guess Flint let her go after the voodoo map was in her brain, and he left Rika's grandmother with her as well. I always called her Lady. Her name was actually Ladrialla, but I couldn't pronounce that when I was little." Jasmine's face had softened into a smile as she settled into her memories. "My mum was born a few months after Grandma and Lady had been left on a small moon. Her name is Evelyn. She had those white eyes like Lady had seen in her vision, and Grandma had been so scared she was blind. Even though Lady kept telling her she'd be fine. And she was fine. She grew up like any normal kid I suppose.

"After a few years, they moved to a small planet called Siskrat. It was just a city which had grown so large that it ended up having its own gravitational pull. They lived in the slums there, and my Mum grew up stealing cash for food. I guess it runs in the family." Jasmine smirked at Silver before going back to her story. "Grandma had the really bad headaches but as she grew older they faded. My Mum got 'em instead. As she grew up, mum could never keep down a job. She was always getting fired for the dumbest things. The whole system on Siskrat was messed up. She was…well I don't really know this story. No one would tell me, I was too little. All I know is that she ended up being pregnant with me. I was born and grew up in the slums. But Lady, Grandma and Mum didn't want me to have to grow up like Mum had. So when I was six years old I was put on a ship to…anywhere really. I ended up on a planet that was really cold and Simon found me there. After that you know what's happened." She finished with a shrug. Silver had crossed his arms as he listened.

"You gave me history, but I want other details, what was your mum like?" he asked her. The wrinkles on his face had softened a bit as he mentioned his daughter and Jasmine smiled back at him.

"She was stubborn, very very stubborn. Her eyes stayed white, but her hair was a beautiful gold color. It grew in curls down her back, and she never cut it except for the occasional trim off the ends. When I left it was passed her waist. She brushed it carefully every day so it was always soft and shining, even when she was dirty everywhere else. And despite the stubborn streak, she was…soft. That's the best word I have for her. She was a soft person, always there with a kind word or a supporting hand. The neighborhood loved her to death, I think that's one of the reasons she stayed happy in such a bad place."

"Sandy used to have gold curls too, and she was just as finicky about it." Silver said with a chuckle. "She was so much like the rest of the men that without her hair she would have been thought to be one. It became her symbol, and one that I loved dearly." Jasmine's lips, though smiling, were quivering a bit. Silver looked so sad, and yet so hopeful. "Do you think, when we figure out this riddle, that we'll find them?" Jasmine could only shrug.

"I don't know…they were all leaving Siskrat after they sent me off. I don't know where they went." As Silver's face fell the tiniest bit, she smiled at him. "But you still have me." she offered hopefully. Silver looked up at her and smiled.

"Aye lass, that I do." He whispered and swept her into a huge hug.

* * *

"What do you think they're doing?" Scarlet muttered, leaning against the window in a vain attempt to see her best friend and the Captain.

"They have a lot to talk about, Scarlet." Taver pointed out reasonably, though he was doing the same thing. Only Charlie hadn't moved from his chair, he just sat there just staring at the door and waiting for them to come back in. When it opened, he jumped. So did Scarlet and Taver, though they were hopping away from the window so the other two wouldn't know they'd been trying to snoop. Jasmine laughed at them and Scarlet's face went as red as her name. Jasmine then took the swirling purple orb out of her pocket and went to Rika.

"What is this exactly?" she asked her. Rika, who'd been mixing up a quick lunch in the kitchen, looked up revealing flour on her nose and all over the white apron she'd put on.

"It's a spirit center." She said as if it was obvious and went back to her mixing bowl. Jasmine just stood there waiting and Rika looked up once more. "Oh fine." She grumbled and she set down the bowl. She pulled off her apron, wiping her hands on it as she did so and went to a small flower pot in the windowsill. She picked it up and set it on the counter as well. The flower was a closed bud of dark blue, and tiny. "A spirit center is a voodoo priestess thing. Each priestess has one, though it isn't revealed until a certain age.

"You see, when a future priestess is born, a flower grows from the tip of one finger." Rika held up her pinky, which had a blue tinge to it, with a permanently dark blue fingernail. "That flower shows everyone that the child is to be a voodoo priestess. When the flower stem is long enough, after about 3 or 4 weeks, the flower is trimmed off and planted. As we grow, so does the flower. Eventually, when we get to be my Grandmamma's age, the flower grows larger than a pot can fit. She planted hers out by the lake.

"The voodoo flowers never grow roots; they just need to be in soil or water depending on your flower's type. So Grandmamma's flower just floats about as it pleases in the lake. I think it could sense my Grandmamma's power in you, that's why her flower was over on the side of the lake closest to you."

"Wow…" Jasmine whispered, looking at the glass ball. "But, what about the orb?"

"The orb is what contains the power source of each voodoo priestess." Rika explained, touching the petals of her own flower. It bloomed much like the lotus had done the day before, except it glowed blue rather than purple. When it was done, it was a blue lily, and in its center sat another glass orb with blue smoke and sparkles in it. Rika picked it up gently. "This orb it what gives each priestess her powers. If it were to break, the priestess it belongs to would lose her power as well." She placed the orb back into the lily and it closed up into a bud once more. Jasmine held the purple orb a bit more protectively. "But that's why we like to keep our flowers nearby. When Flint took my grandmamma, he was lucky she was able to perform the map spell at all with her so far from her flower. It was probably the last bit of magic she was able to do before running out completely." Jasmine inspected the orb again before looking up at Rika.

"I should probably out this back into the lotus then, huh?" she asked, but Rika shook her head. She came to stand in front of the gypsy girl and closed her fingers around the orb.

"No, I think you should take it with you. Take it to the end of the journey the clues will take you on, and then find Grandmamma. Give her the orb and her powers will come back. She'll also be able to lift the curse from you and your line. Otherwise if you have children, they'll have the same problem with the headaches. And," she hesitated before finishing. "When you find her, can you ask her to come home?" her eyes were so full of hope and pleading that Jasmine broke into a smile. She hugged the Voodoo apprentice tightly.

"Of course I will! You didn't even have to ask." She explained. As she pulled back she giggled a bit. "Though your serious speech might have had more effect if you hadn't had flour on your nose." She teased. Everyone joined in the laughter as Scarlet joined Rika in the kitchen again. They finished up lunch, and were all munching happily on Rika's cake when Jasmine's eyes turned purple. Taver was the one who noticed and he choked a bit in his hurry to point it out. Charlie pounded him on the back, asking what was wrong, and the choking boy just pointed frantically at Jasmine. "What?" she asked in confusion and a moment later her vision went black.

As she awoke again, Jasmine slowly tried to figure out where she was. She was on a soft bed, and her own pillow was under her cheek. She opened her eyes to see Scarlet asleep in her own bunk across from her. Jasmine sat up and wondered what had happened. Somehow they'd gotten back on the Dragonspear and she was very confused as to why. She'd wanted to say goodbye to Rika! She stood and noticed a paper on the table under their window. She sat in one of the chairs and read it by the light of the stars.

_Hello Jasmine!_

_I'm sorry to say that you had to leave in a bit of a hurry, so my goodbye must be on paper. And since we pretty much already shared our life stories, I don't really have anything special to say._

_Oh! I do have something important to say, I better mention it before I forget. I gave Charlie something which he's supposed to give you, go find him when you can._

_Well, wish I could have given you a hug with this goodbye, But I'm afraid things didn't work out too well as far as that goes, huh? Well I hope to see you again someday, give a hug to my Grandmamma for me!_

_Rika_

Jasmine folded the paper and shoved it into the trunk at the foot of her bed. She wondered if Charlie was still awake, she was very curious what Rika had given her. She made her way onto the deck and looked around. It looked like almost everyone had gone to bed for the night. It was hard to keep a day and night schedule in space. They didn't have a sun to keep track of time, so everything was determined by clocks. The most annoying part was when it was night time for their bodies and they just wanted to sleep but they were passing a sun at the time. The mixture was wreaking havoc on Jasmine's mind and she couldn't wait to settle down on a planet once more.

Finally she spotted Charlie sitting up in the crow's-nest. She grinned and climbed up to meet him. As she sat down he jumped.

"Oh! Jasmine, I didn't see you!" he exclaimed with an embarrassed chuckle. Jasmine just giggled at him.

"Charlie, you're on lookout, you're supposed to be seeing everything." She pointed out.

"Well one girl coming up behind you is a lot harder to notice that a whole ship." He defended himself.

"Well that one girl is a lot closer and noisier than a ship off in the distance." She informed him and he laughed.

"Alright alright, you win!"

"So...what was the riddle?" Jasmine asked and he grinned, taking Taver's notebook out of his pocket.

"I figured you'd want to know right off so I stole that from Taver after he went to bed." Jasmine smiled back before looking down at the riddle, and read it softly out loud.

"_You have met the person you needed to meet,_

_But there is nothing else on this planet you need._

_So no long goodbyes, there is no time to waste,_

_A planet of wind and sand now waits."_

"We figure its talking about Skifara." Charlie told her after she thought a few moments.

"That makes sense. Skifara is a planet all covered in sand, and the wind is so strong that everyone lives underground." She murmured. "But what I'm wondering is why the riddle seems to rush us along, you know?" Charlie shrugged, he didn't know anymore than she did. "Also…the Riddle back on Bestet. It said that thing about being behind bars…it's like the thing controlling the riddles isn't anything preset, it knows what's happening when it gives the next clue."

"I'd noticed that…" Charlie muttered. "Maybe Rika's grandmother is making the riddles up on the spot whenever its time for one or something…" Below them a few of the other pirates patrolling the deck had gathered around the main mast to play some music. It was soft and slow, and one of the men was singing about the family he'd left at home. Jasmine blinked when something shiny suddenly hung in front of her eyes. She leaned back to see that it was a hollow gold ball with a clasp on it like a locket. She took it gently and Charlie dropped the chain he'd been holding it up with.

"What is it?" Jasmine asked him, inspecting the necklace in awe. It was a lovely piece of artwork, and the clasp opened it into two halves.

"It's from Rika, I think it's supposed to hold that ball of her Grandmother's." he said. Jasmine pulled the orb out from a secret pocket inside one of her regular pockets. She hadn't wanted to lose it to some thief or just by being clumsy. She placed the ball inside on half of the necklace and closed it. It was a perfect fit. "It's so pretty!" she breathed. The gold made the purple sparkles inside the orb reflect gold as well, and the effect was almost breathtaking.

Charlie gently took the chain from her fingers and opened the clasp. Jasmine smiled in thanks and lifted her hair out of the way. Charlie clasped the necklace around her throat; his fingers bushing on her skin making her shiver a bit. Below them on the deck, the pirates were still playing their soft songs in the night. Charlie stood as one started singing about the night he'd met his girl. Charlie held his hand to Jasmine who looked up at him.

"Care to dance?" he asked with a smirk and she laughed. She took his hand and stood as well.

"It's going to be rather difficult to dance here." She pointed out. "There isn't much room."

"There's enough." Was all Charlie said as he slid one hand around her waist to her back and held her right hand in his left. Rather than doing any of the fancier dances they knew, they stuck to a simple one, which involved more spinning in place than big fancy moves.

"You know, this dance was designed for very crowded ballroom floors." Jasmine told Charlie with a smile. She was standing very close to him, cheek to cheek as it were. She couldn't see his face, but she could feel him smile as well.

"Who would have guessed that it'd be perfect for dancing in the crow's-nest on a pirate ship?" he asked with a chuckle. Jasmine shook her head in amusement.

"I don't know. But whoever invented this dance is probably turning over in his grave."

"How do you know it was a guy? It could have been a woman." Charlie pointed out.

"True." Jasmine agreed. "A dance designed to actually make sense does sound like something made by a woman doesn't it?" Charlie chuckled again.

"I suppose it was a man who came up with ballet then?" Jasmine groaned.

"Oh, it must have been. No female in her right mind would design a dance revolving around people dancing on the tips of their toes."

"Not a ballet fan I take it?" Charlie asked needlessly. Jasmine pulled back to raise an eyebrow at his twinkling eyes.

"Have _you_ ever tried dancing on your toes? Not fun." She said shortly. "I'd rather not make my toes bleed until the callus builds up." She finished with a shutter. Charlie's chuckle was short lived this time, and Jasmine's smirk was melting away. They were lost in each other's eyes and inching their way closer and closer.

Jasmine's eyes had just fluttered closed, and her lips were only a hair's breadth from touching when something hit the ship. Hard. The two were jolted sideways, neither wanting to forget another almost-kiss but wondering what was going on. They looked ahead to see not the clear field of stars that had been there before. Instead thousands of rocks were floating in front of them.

"Oh no…" Jasmine whispered, and Charlie took her hand.

"An asteroid field." He whispered in fear.

* * *

_Bum bum buuuum! I love being mean to characters, it's fun ^^_

_Alrighty then, I wanted to mention that I wrote another one-shot yesterday. It's a fluffy Pirates of the Carribbean one. If anyone is interested, please take a look!_

_I hope everyone enjoyed this week's chapter, hope to see you next Thursday. And please review, it makes me a happy camper!!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Asteroids!" Charlie exclaimed, leaning over the railing to shout the men below. He cursed himself for not doing his job. If he'd seen the asteroid field before they'd entered it, they could have avoided it altogether! Instead, they'd have to get out, which was much easier said than done. Instead, he'd been flirting with Jasmine. As much as he liked her, he'd hate himself forever if something happened to her because of this. He turned to look at Jasmine, but found that she'd already swung right over the side of the crow's nest and was heading to the deck. He followed her, reaching the deck just as Silver burst his way out from his cabin. His nightshirt was only half tucked into a pair of pants, but his mechanical eye was whirring to focus on each of the asteroids they were barely missing. He charged up the stairs to the steering wheel and grabbed it from the helmsman who was barely managing.

As the Dragonspear steadied a bit and started weaving among the rocks, Charlie hurried up the stairs as well.

"Orders Captain?" he asked, looking for some way to help.

"Lifelines lad, check the lifelines!" Silver told him then shouted the order for everyone to tie their own. Scarlet came out onto the deck, dressed in her sleeveless nightgown and her red curls waving about her face. She gaped as Silver barely managed to dodge another rock but set her jaw. She ran to the main mast to tie a lifeline about her waist, then dashed to the foremast. She climbed it just as quickly as the crew, hurrying to trim the sails as Silver had ordered. They couldn't afford to get holes in the sails, not when they were already running solely on battery power. Taver rushed to Silver, making his way up the stairs after attaching his own lifeline. He dashed to the electronic control center and typed furiously, bringing up schematics of the surrounding area.

"Captain, what am I looking for?" he asked.

"Any advantage we may have lad." Silver told him as he wrenched the wheel to the side. An asteroid still hit the side, but not as badly as it could have been. "The ship can't maneuver enough to just turn about as we like, keep that in mind." He told him.

"I've got it!" Taver shouted only a minute later. Silver gave the wheel to Mr. Dorian, and went to look over the boy's shoulder.

"What have we got lad, and please tell me this will actually work." Silver said and Taver began to explain.

Meanwhile, Scarlet was helping to tie up the last sail. She started to climb down when Silver ordered for them to stay up there.

"What? Why?!" she shouted down to him. Jasmine, who was rushing about doing what she could on deck looked up and shouted.

"I think they have a plan, just hang on tight up there!" Scarlet groaned and clutched the mast tightly as another asteroid hit the side of the ships. She could feel the wooden hull shutter from the impact all the way up here! Maybe even more so, the entire mast seemed to be swaying all over the place. She closed her eyes and clutched the mast tightly, praying this plan would work.

"Ok…" Taver muttered to Silver who had taken the wheel once more. "Get ready, and be careful, we'll reach it in about ten minutes." Silver gritted his teeth but kept steering. The ship was really taking a beating. Taver looked up to make sure the crew was ready too, and saw Scarlet at the top of the foremast and froze. What was she doing?! She could fall, or get hit, or…something. A hand on his shoulder made him turn.

"Scarlet will be fine, she's worked with the crew long enough to know what she's doing and she can take care of herself." It was Jasmine. Taver wanted to protest, but sighed and nodded. She was right and if he wanted Scarlet to make it though this alive he needed to pay attention. "So what exactly are we doing?" Jasmine was asking him. Taver pointed to a bright orange ball at the center of the computer screen.

"That is a very small sun." he told her. "It's what this asteroid field is surrounding." The ball was indeed surrounded by thousands of black dots. They were constantly in motion around the small star, except in one place. Looking closer, she saw that the black dots seemed to avoid a small crack in their orbit around the sun. Jasmine pointed to it.

"What's that?" she asked and Taver grinned recklessly, adjusting the goggles on his forehead.

"That is our escape." He said happily. "The area is clear of asteroids because there's a large column of fire which spouts from the sun every few minutes. Every 3.471 minutes to be exact." He pointed to the screen as an orange arm stretched from the sun into the empty space for a moment and pull back in. "We are going open the solar sails at the exact moment I say to, and we'll speed forward with the power we suddenly get from the sun. Then, we'll swing right around the sun, using the gravitational pull to slingshot us right out the gap!" Jasmine gaped at his proud face.

"_That's_ your brilliant plan?!" she shrieked. "We could get barbequed!" Taver patted her on the shoulder confidently.

"Don't worry, I have everything under control." He told her. His voice showed that he wasn't as confident as he looked. Jasmine just groaned and stalked off to find something useful to do. Unfortunately there wasn't much left _to_ do, and her mind kept going back to the odds of them escaping. Odds which were not good.

Waiting for Taver's order made things harder, everything taking longer than it should in her mind. After what seemed like days but was only a few minutes, it was time. "Now!" Taver shouted to Silver.

"Let loose the sails and get yur arses down on deck!" Silver bellowed over another asteroid crashing into the front of the ship. Everyone did as they were told, loosing the sails before scrambling down to the deck once more. In the time it took the sails to charge up enough energy to blast off again, everyone had made it down to the polished deck, which now sported numerous dents and chunks of rubble. Scarlet reached the once smoothly polished deck and huddled next to the mast, hugging it once again.

Jasmine saw the sun come nearer and nearer when suddenly the sails sparked to life with the sudden energy. She fell backwards as the ship shot forward. Charlie found her there and pulled her towards the railing where they held on for dear life. The ship blasted forward with its sudden energy, getting caught in the sun's gravity. Rather than shooting past the star, the ship circled it, caught momentarily in its gravitational pull. Once the ship stabilized, they were flying straight towards the gap in the asteroid field.

Jasmine desperately wanted to close her eyes but found herself unable to. As the ship zoomed away from the sun, she heard Taver counting down the seconds before the column fired once more. But when it finally did, its intense heat only pushed them forwards even faster, making them fly out o the asteroid field without getting engulfed by the flames!

Everything had gone almost exactly as Taver had predicted. What he hadn't counted on was the heat of the sun setting their tallest mast on fire as they zoomed out. He also hadn't counted on the heat from the column of fire to break all the glass windows on the rear end of the ship. But they'd made it out alive, and right now that was more than enough cause for celebration.

As the ship slowed down to its normal speed, some of the crew went to put out the fire on the main mast before it burned their sails, and cover the broken windows and seal them with special plastic elastic. It would serve until they could get to a port and make formal repairs. Jasmine dashed back to Taver and gave him a huge smooch on the cheek.

"You are a genius!" she told him. "Maybe a mad genius, but a genius nonetheless. Thank you thank you thank you!" with each thank you she gave him another kiss on the cheek, before skipping off to fling her arms around Charlie's neck. Charlie was laughing at Taver's red face and giggled at Jasmine's relived one.

"You can calm down, we made it."

"I know! And I almost hadn't expected to!" she exclaimed with a laugh. Charlie made her sit down and take deep breaths until she was back to normal. She blushed a bit, but laughed at her own foolishness. "Sorry about that. Apparently I get over-excited when I survive the un-survivable." She said sheepishly, and he laughed.

"Hey, no worries. Your craziness makes you special." Jasmine stuck her tongue out at him and closed her eyes, leaning against the railing.

"Gee, thanks a bunch." She said sarcastically, opening her eyes to look at the sky, which was wonderfully clear of everything but stars again. Charlie put an arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him gratefully. The boy was much more comfortable that the ship railing. They were both asleep only moments later, worn out from the events of the day.

Taver found them there a while later. The place they'd fallen asleep in was partially hidden by debris, so he'd had to look for a while. He grinned and poked Charlie to wake him up. His blond friend slowly opened his eyes.

"What?" he asked as he yawned.

"I think beds are more comfortable places to sleep." Taver pointed out simply.

"Oh." Charlie muttered, as he looked about and realized where he was. He nodded and stood, lifting Jasmine as he did so. He carried her off towards the cabins without a word to Taver who just chuckled and went to wake up Scarlet who'd fallen asleep on the deck at the base of the foremast. It had been a long day for all of them.

* * *

Landing on Skifara was a challenge and a half. The wind storms that covered the planet's surface whipped their clothing and hair into knots, and blew sand at them from all directions. Jasmine covered her face with her head scarf the best she could, and Scarlet was holding her arm over her nose and mouth. They all squinted about as they flew along the surface in the longboat. Once again, landing the Dragonspear had been out of the question. The winds were too strong and they hadn't found a port to make decent repairs yet. Charlie shouted through the shirt he'd pulled up over the lower half of his face.

"Where are we supposed to go?" he asked. Mr. Dorian shrugged. Silver had elected not to come on this expedition, he was doing what he could to repair the ship while they wandered around planet side.

"We need to find a Ventilation tube!" the first mate told them. "That should lead us to the city!" Everyone nodded and kept their bodies low, as much out of the wind as possible. Mr. Dorian few the longboat about in an only semi patterned search. It was too hard to tell if he was going in circles or a straight line in this weather. Finally Taver spotted something.

"There!" he exclaimed pointing over the port side of the longboat. Everyone turned to see a shadowy form sticking up from the ground. Mr. Dorian steered towards it, and they soon happily saw that it was a large pipe with a screen on it. It was supposed to allow air down the city that was under the surface of the windy planet. Everyone tumbled out of the longboat, and tied it tightly around the pipe, not wanting their ride to fly away in the winds. Inspecting the screen covering the opening of the pipe, Taver soon spotted how it could be opened. He did so, and waved them through one at a time. He crawled in himself last, pulling the screen closed once more behind him.

When he let go and slid forward, the pipe suddenly sloped into what felt like a huge twisty slide. He found himself cheering at how much fun it was, and heard the others doing the same. Finally, he popped out the end of the tube, and landed in a large heap with the others.

"Ow! Taver, that was my arm you just sat on!"

"Someone is on my foot, I can't move."

"Having a little trouble breathing here!"

Slowly, they all untangled themselves and dusted themselves off to look around. They'd landed in what looked like a ghost town. Old wooden buildings lined a single street, all of them rotting from age. There was no one in sight, which was quickly becoming creepy. They wandered among the decaying buildings, searching for any sign of life. And finally, Charlie did.

"Look, footprints!" Everyone hurried over, Scarlet being the last to join them. As she arrived, she looked over the shoulders of the others, who were all bending down to look at the scuff marks on the dusty ground. They were definitely recent, but they didn't lead anywhere. They were just a bunch of footprints on the side of the street. Like someone had walked down the street only to disappear. Scarlet looked around, trying to see a clue as to where the person had gone. Finally she looked up and grinned. Directly above them was a hangmen's platform, which would be easy to climb up from wherever the person had been standing. She dashed around, finding the stairs and climbing onto the platform.

"Up here guys!" she said excitedly. Then she looked around and sighed. There was nowhere to go from here either. Except if you were being hung, and then the only place you'd go was through the trap door in the floor. The trap door! Scarlet kneeled next to the large hinged door and lifted it up. As she did so, a draft of warm air blasted up from a tunnel directly underneath. She grinned as the others cheered at her discovery. On the side of the vertical tunnel was a rusty ladder. Upon closer inspection Taver noted that it wasn't actually rusty at all. It was just painted to look that way, possibly to deter people who found the tunnel.

Scarlet was hesitant about going first though; she stepped back as the others swung onto the ladder and started climbing down. Mr. Dorian had her go down right after him, wanting to protect the girl if anything waited for them at the bottom.

Soon, Scarlet had lost all sight of the others. There was no light in the tunnel, and she had to feel her way down the ladder, so she was going slower than before. She wondered if they'd ever find the bottom, but the ladder seemed to go on forever! Suddenly, she wasn't in the tunnel anymore, she was in a cavern so large she couldn't see the other side. Of course, that might have to do with the smaller planet of sand which floated within the space.

Jasmine couldn't believe it, within one planet of sand, was a whole other planet! It floated on the center of gravity, surrounded by a metal sphere which the outer planet sat on. She continued climbing down the ladder, looking around in wonder as she did so. She heard the gasps of awe coming from each of her friends as they climbed down from the tunnel, and grinned.

She was almost at the bottom of the ladder when she was grabbed and pulled off. Suddenly she was being held in the hand of a very large hairy creature, who didn't seem to have any more to his face than the large dog-like nose. Its hand was large enough to wrap all the way around her torso, pinning her arms to her sides. She suddenly knew how a doll felt, but wondered if dolls often worried about being eaten.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" a voice asked, but it wasn't the giant shaggy monster that spoke, it came from behind her. She craned her neck, trying to see but was unable to. "Speak! You can speak can't you?" the voice asked scathingly.

"Yes I can speak, although if I spoke a different language, I'd be very insulted right about now." She muttered. She craned her neck again, looking for her friends and seeing that they'd all met the same fate as she, each being held by a huge hairy monster.

"Well, as you all seemed to be protecting the red-haired one, I am going to assume she is the leader. Bring her, take the others to Jeb." The voice ordered. The group all protested as they were carried off, Scarlet calling after them.

"Wait, we haven't done anything wrong, and I'm not the leader!" she exclaimed fearfully. The hairy thing started moving, following the voice which Scarlet was still unable to see. She was finding it hard to see anything but hair as the beast held her so close to his chest. After about ten minutes, she felt the air grow cooler and registered that they were going down again. Into a basement of sorts. Finally they stopped and the beast set her down. Scarlet spun, wanting to glare at the person who'd ordered her brought here.

The man, well she thought it was a man, had skin the color and texture of sand. He was humanoid, in that he had two arms and legs and stood upright. But after that the comparison failed. He had wiry muscles, but was obviously strong. His torso was very long and hunched over like a person with bad posture. His legs were odd as well, the knees bending backwards like an animal's. His long arms still reached his knees, and ended in a three fingered hand with a thumb. In one hand he clutched a staff decorated at the top with brightly colored feathers. His mouth hung on a very low pointed chin, a long nose running from almost directly above it and up his pointed oval like face. Two small eyes sat close together hear the top of his face, and he had no eyebrows to speak of. At first glance, Scarlet thought it looked like a tribal mask, but the eyes blinked and the lips moved when he spoke.

"Welcome to Skifara, Princess, we are honored that you have finally arrived." He said with a deep and graceful bow. Scarlet's mouth fell open.

"Wait…what?"

* * *

_Soooooooo sorry! I love being evil with cliffhangers, but I hate being evil in forgetting to update. I'm so sorry everyone!!_

_In any case...I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and (as long as i remember) i'll see you on Thursday!! of course my friend is coming so it's entirely possible i'll forget...maybe i'll update Wednesday for you guys instead :P_

_Please review, it makes me happy!_

_And Happy Valentines day!! A day devoted to chocolate can't be terrible, right? :P OH! Also, I dunno if any of you guys are on Twitter but I finally joined... just search for Whisper Turnbell and you'll find me ^^_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Are you comfortable princess?" the odd man asked Scarlet. She shifted, far from comfortable.

"Actually no. I'm not a princess and I want my friends back." She said bluntly. Scarlet was sitting on a floor covered in rugs and pillows, surrounded by fruits and things the people of Skifara considered delicacies. The man with the mask like face winced a bit and sat down on his knees, bowing his head to the floor.

"But you _are_ our princess." He told her. "Just as the stories said."

"What stories?" Scarlet asked, her curiosity overcoming her need to escape for now. She couldn't do anything without her friends in any case, so she might as well attempt to learn all she could. The man sat up and looked at her.

"In the old days, when we still lived on the surface, we had a queen. She had long red hair and was astonishingly intelligent." He looked down sadly. "When the queen was taken, the winds started. At first they weren't so bad, just the occasional storm. But soon they grew in ferocity. We did all we could do, but were eventually forced to retreat to the interior."

"Has this planet always been hollow?" Scarlet asked him and he nodded.

"Yes, but it was dark and filed with sand beasts. When the Unending Storm came, we had no choice but to move into the interior. We were lucky; the Queen's son had traveled the galaxy and knew how we could make the interior a place where we could live in safety. He designed what you saw on our way here."

"I didn't see much." Scarlet admitted. "That hairy thing wouldn't let me." The man jumped to his feet in horror.

"Oh! Princess, please accept my apologies on behalf of Grolon. The sand beasts do not know any better." He insisted. Scarlet smiled at him, trying to settle his fears.

"I thought you said the sand beasts were dangerous."

"We thought so, expecting to lose many of our people to their hunger when we came below. We discovered soon that they are just simple creatures, who aren't intelligent enough on their own to do any real harm. We were able to tame them easily, and now they are loyal partners of the city. Now princess, if you would care for a tour I will gladly show you our metropolis." He told her. Scarlet made herself smile and nod, standing from her seat on the floor. While she was very interested in learning all she could about this city, she still felt like she had no control over the situation. And finding out why exactly they though _she_ of all people was their princess may help her to get away safely.

* * *

Meanwhile, Charlie was pacing the room where he and the others had been asked to wait. Jasmine sat on a pillow on the floor, watching him. Taver was trying to use a large bunch of stacked pillows to get enough height to see out the window.

"I can't see anything!" he complained when he finally reached it. "Why are they doing this to us? We didn't do anything."

"We didn't do anything on Bestet either." Jasmine pointed out. Charlie sighed and came to sit next to her. He laid his head on her shoulder and she took his hand. Taver's hold on the window sill slackened and he fell to the ground with a thump.

"Ow." he grumbled and went to the door. "But where'd they take Scarlet? I hope she's ok…" he sat on the floor, leaning his back against the door. "Why'd they think she was the leader?"

"Maybe because she went down the ladder last? It seemed they thought we were trying to protect her." Mr. Dorian suggested half heartedly. He was as clueless as the others and he obviously didn't like it. He stood stiffly with his hands behind his back, eagle eyes looking between the door and window and waiting for something to happen. Finally the door opened and they all shot to their feet, except Taver who fell backwards since he'd been leaning on the door.

It was a female standing before them now. Her face was very similar to a tribal mask like the males, but her face was a much smaller oval. Her skin sported complex designs which looked like paint, but upon closer inspection, they were a part of her natural skin coloring. Her eyes were large almond shaped holes, liquid black eyes behind the blinking lids. Rather than the loincloth of the men, she wore a long skirt which covered her backwards knees, and cloth was wrapped around her torso as well for modestly. She bowed to them.

"I am here to offer refreshment, is anyone hungry or thirsty?" she asked in a kind voice. Taver stepped forward.

"Where is Scarlet?" he asked her and she blinked.

"You mean the princess? She is being shown around the city."

"Princess? What do you mean princess?" Jasmine asked and the woman smiled.

"Your leader is the Princess who has been lost to these lands of course." She explained patiently. "While she is learning about Skifara now, you will be able to see her again at dinner. As her loyal companions, we would never dream of treating you badly." Jasmine sat down heavily on her pillow once more.

"Do you think you could explain that again?" she asked weakly.

* * *

Scarlet looked around in wonder. The planet within a planet was a marvel in itself, but the way the people here lived was fascinating. As the man with the masklike face, who'd said his name was Hyth, had told her it was all done with machines. As a desert people living underground was hard, especially the loss of the sun. The great Queen's son had come up with many wonderful ideas to make life as close to what it had been above ground.

The inside of the outer sand barrier had been lined with many rings of solar powered cells. They shone off light the way the double suns did, giving the people the light and warmth they needed. The ventilation pipes had been his invention as well, the largest leading to smaller villages. Most of the outer towns had long since been abandoned; the people preferred living on the interior.

The Interior planet itself was interesting to see. Scarlet had previously believed she was being taken to a basement, but it was simply the semi-underground houses the people lived in. With roofs being mounds of sand, the interior planet could look empty if everyone were to simply go indoors. Above and around the houses, people grew cactus gardens, and a few held corrals for what Hyth called Rose Riders. When she first saw one, Scarlet almost burst out laughing. She didn't think such an awkward creature would have such a pretty name.

The Rose Riders looked like very large birds, except they had three legs which gave them an odd loping gait. Their beaks were round, looking almost more like a muzzle than a beak. They had small wings on their back, with smaller and smaller pairs growing up their long necks. They didn't do any good, though at one time they may have been able to fly. And they had two tails, ending in a tuft of what looked like grass. The same grassy fur covered their feet, which when lifted revealed very large and perfectly round feet without toes, looking very much like suction cups. And they came in every color of the rainbow. When Scarlet asked why they were called Rose Riders, Hyth told her to touch one. She did so and discovered that what she had believed to be scales were actually more like flower petals layered the way scales were.

After that, Hyth mounted up on a large yellow Rose Rider and told her to find one she liked. Scarlet wandered the corral, and finally found one which was bright blue. He nuzzled her cheek and she giggled. She climbed on and Hyth lead her around the city some more. It took Scarlet a while to get used to the motion of the bird like creature. It loped forward and back, stepping first with its single front foot, and then both of its back feet. But once she managed to get over it, the ride became quite enjoyable. No longer shy around Hyth, she asked him more questions about the city, still wanting to know everything she possibly could. Finally she got to the one subject she really wanted to know about.

"Hyth…I'm not your princess."

"But of course you are, Princess!" Hyth insisted, but Scarlet shook her head.

"I have red hair, but that is the only connection to your great Queen I have. And there are red haired girls all over the galaxy. I'm not her."

"But…Princess…" Hyth looked frightened suddenly. "You must not say such things."

"But why not? I'm not the girl you're looking for." Hyth's frightened eyes not darted around them nervously.

"Please, stop speaking like that Princess. I will explain everything to you soon. But not while…while _they_ might hear." He finished in a whisper.

"Who might hear?"

"The Eaters!" he said and hushed her quickly. "Later princess, later." Scarlet gulped fearfully herself now. The Eaters? That wasn't a pleasant title, and she dreaded to know who they were.

"But Hyth, I can't stay here." She insisted. Hyth gasped and almost fell of his mount he was so afraid of her words.

"Please do not say that again Princess. Please…I'll explain later." He slapped the reins on his Rose Rider, refusing to listen to her any longer. Scarlet decided to take his advice and stay silent, she didn't know who the Eaters were, but they sure didn't sound good.

* * *

Jasmine looked in the mirror at the outfit she'd been given. The people here had assumed she was Scarlet's lady-in-waiting, and she'd been given clothing which apparently fit that rank. And Jasmine was very impressed. She wore dark blue leggings, over which she wore very loose pants of a sheer blue. Her top was a blue sash made of the same stretchy blue material as the leggings. It tied around her bosom and knotted in the back, the ends hanging down behind her. A gold belt with sapphires circled her waist, and a gold necklace with smaller sapphire had been chained around her neck. Her hair had been brushed until it shone, and two clips of gold with more sapphires held beck the front sections. And finally she wore gold hoops in her ears.

She turned when Charlie and Taver entered the room she'd been given and she looked them both up and down. Both wore very loose pants, Charlie's of blue and Taver's of green. Charlie wore only a vest of black and blue cloth, while Taver had a loose white shirt under his brown and green vest. Charlie's belt was woven gold wire with a large sapphire imbedded into the front center while Taver's was silver with an emerald. Taver's pants were tucked into a pair of brown boots while Charlie had opted for the sandals instead. Jasmine grinned at them, nodding in approval.

"You two look great." She said with a grin. Taver blushed a bit, staring at his toes. Charlie just came over and slipped his arm through hers and kissed her on the cheek.

"You look lovely." He told her in her ear and she giggled. He stood straight once again as Mr. Dorian came into the room. He wore his uniform, as the people hadn't had any clothing large enough to fit him. Jasmine guessed he was more comfortable in his own clothing anyway. "Well, let's get to dinner so we can get our fifth back." Charlie went on and Jasmine nodded.

"I hope Scarlet's alright." She said softly.

"She's their supposed princess, she's probably been treated better then the four of us put together." Charlie pointed out. Jasmine nodded, though she was still unsure.

The four of them went to the grand dining room, where a single long table extended from the door to the back of the room where Scarlet was supposed to emerge. They walked down the length of the table, ignoring the mutterings of the people they were passing. Jasmine couldn't help but shutter. Their mask-like faces were rather frightening and didn't show much emotion. Finally they reached their seats. Taver took the seat directly to the right of Scarlet's seat, with Mr. Dorian at his side. Jasmine sat on the left with Charlie next to her. Taver found himself watching the curtained door where Scarlet was to be emerging soon, waiting and waiting.

His eyes went wide when the curtains finally pulled back. Jasmine noticed his reaction and stopped her talk with Charlie to look as well. There was Scarlet looking more beautiful than Jasmine had ever seen, and she'd always thought Scarlet's red hair prettier than her own black locks.

She wore gold sandals, and a long dark red skirt which covered her toes. She wore a top similar to Jasmine's except in red, with tied around her chest to her back, the ends hanging down. Over that outfit, a sheer white cloth draped around her waist a few times, then up and over her shoulder like a sash. A small bit of cloth edged with beads hung over the lower half of her face, making her green eyes pop at their contrast. They sparkled a bit when she saw them, but there was something else in her eyes which Jasmine immediately knew was fear. She watched as the girl gingerly took her seat and raised a hand for silence.

"The meal may begin." She said in a stately voice and everyone dived at the dished placed before them. The moment eyes were no longer focused on her, Scarlet ripped the face veil off and gulped at her purp juice.

"What is it?" Taver asked, sounding worried. He'd noticed the fear as well it seemed.

"We have to get out of here." Scarlet whispered to the others. "And they won't let me leave."

"Wait, why?" Charlie asked in confusion. He'd already started eating from the platter placed in front of him and had sauce all over his chin. "You're a princess here, surely they have to listen to you." Scarlet shook her head solemnly, drinking from her goblet once more and peering at the others at the table.

"I am a Princess in words, but not in anything else. And here, a Princess is a savior."

"A savior? Wow." Charlie said enviously. "Like a hero or something?" Scarlet winced and looked down at her hands which were clenched in her lap.

"Something like that." She evaded. "I cannot speak of it here, we need to go somewhere private." Jasmine's eyes were narrowed in worry and she found herself searching the masklike faces once again. Something wasn't right. Scarlet meanwhile had smiled and beckoned to a man who'd been standing at attention by the wall. "Hyth," she said cheerfully, "I'd like to show my friends the Rose Riders, would you mind?" Hyth smiled back and Jasmine was taken aback. She had yet to see such emotion from any of the others.

"Not at all Princess, I shall escort you personally." Scarlet nodded and stood, and Jasmine hurried to follow her lead. Charlie Taver and Mr. Dorian followed them as well. They went through the curtained doorway and out into a courtyard area, filled with odd cactus plants and a small fountain. They bypassed the pretty area and went through a large archway to the Rose Rider corral. There they waded through the odd birds. Scarlet was already used to them and led the way, but the others couldn't stop looking at the strange creatures and trying to figure out what they were. Finally, in the middle of the corral, Scarlet sat down right on the sand. Hyth bowed to her and went back to the gate of the corral so no one could enter without their knowledge. Finally Scarlet sighed and allowed her cheerful facade to fade away.

"What exactly is going on?" Jasmine asked, sinking to sit down in the sand as well.

"Well these people said I was their princess simply because of my hair. They used to have a Queen with red hair, and made me their princess right off because of it." Scarlet explained as Charlie and Taver sat down as well. Mr. Dorian stayed standing, and keeping an eye out over the bodies of the Rose Riders.

"You're a redhead and thus a princess? How exactly does that work?" Taver asked in confusion.

"Well, it's because of the Eaters." Scarlet said.

"The Eaters? Who are they?"

"A corrupt group of people, they're kind of like a government in a way. They control everything about this place, without the people having a say in anything. They took over Skifara hundreds of years ago, but they killed the Queen to do so." Scarlet explained, pulling the sheer cloth from around her body and tossing it to the side. One of the Rose Riders grabbed it and started running about the corral so the cloth would flow behind him. They ignored him though, too worried to be amused.

"They killed the Queen?"

"Mhmm…something about her made it possible for them to control an odd magic that's here. They used the power to start the winds on the surface. The people were driven below and are now under the complete control of the Eaters."

"But what does this have to do with you?" Taver asked.

"Well…the Eaters are losing their power. They kill off any red headed child in the city; something about our blood enables them to keep the wind blowing."

"And you…" Jasmine said slowly, not wanting to finish the thought.

"I'm supposed to be next."

* * *

_Bum bum bum buuuuuuuummmmmmm hehehehehe... I do so love being evil to you all ^^ Though at the same time, i'm being SUPER nice since i'm updating early! You guys will be getting this ON Thursday, rather then me posting Thursday and you getting the chapter on Friday, lol. And it's still pretty early...some of you may get it now! Woohoo!_

_Lol, ok yeah, i'm pretty hyper/happy...one of my bestest friends EVER is coming to visit tomorrow, and i'm sooo excited XD_

_Please please review, it makes me soooo happy!!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Taver stared at Scarlet in shock.

"You're supposed to be sacrificed?" he asked fearfully. Scarlet just nodded, looking in the direction of the dinner party then back to the group.

"And I hope none of you mind, but I'd much rather escape than become the next being used to satisfy the Eaters." Charlie nodded decisively.

"Then that's just what we need to do. Why don't we leave now?" Scarlet shook her head.

"We'd never escape. Just…trust me when I say that they'd catch us before we could get back to the longboat." She winced and Taver had to wonder what it was she wasn't telling them.

"So what are we going to do?" Jasmine asked, taking Charlie's hand in her worry. Charlie's rubbed the back of her smaller hand with his thumb, worried himself.

"You need a distraction." Said another voice. Everyone spun to see Hyth. While everyone scrambled for excuses, Scarlet just grinned.

"It's alright guys; Hyth is going to help us get out of here." The babbling stopped quickly, leaving silence to hang in the air instead. "But he's right, we need to find a distraction, something large enough to keep the Eater's attention gone for at least an hour." Now Taver grinned.

"I have the perfect idea. I can sabotage the solar rings!" Hyth gasped, that was like suggesting you take the sun out of the sky. But he saw Scarlet nodding thoughtfully and didn't speak against it.

"Taver…do you think you could find a way to deactivate it in a non-permanent way?" she asked him. "We can show Hyth exactly how to fix things once enough time has passed." Taver was already nodding. He pulled a small device from his pocket and Jasmine gaped.

"That's like what they used on Silver to deactivate his cyborg parts! Why on earth would you take one of those things?" the recent bond between her and her newfound grandfather had obviously grown over the few days they'd known about their relationship.

"I was just going to study it, find out how it works." Taver explained, trying to calm her down. "But, if I can get to the wiring of the solar rings, I can put this on it where no one will ever find it. Except you Hyth." He nodded to the man with the mask like face. Despite his worry, Hyth knew it was for the best. He didn't want the Eaters killing any more innocent people. "After you think enough time has gone by, then you can go back to the spot where we put the device and take it off. I'll show you how, don't worry."

Hyth nodded again, his own confidence growing with that of the children. To think that he and his people lived their lives in fear but these strangers were brave enough to fight back. Hyth made a silent promise to himself to work harder on the small rebellion growing among the people. It was time for things to change. Scarlet was nodding decisively.

"Right. Well, the sacrifice isn't for two days, we have all day tomorrow to get out of here." There was still a spark of worry though. The Eaters had been known to demand their blood sacrifice a day or two early. "But the sooner the better really." She finished with a weak chuckle. Taver nodded and turned once more to Hyth.

"When's the soonest can we go up to one of the solar rings?" he asked. Hyth thought carefully before answering.

"While we could go now, it would be pointless as its is already well into the night cycle…the best time would be tomorrow morning, when the Eaters gather to prepare for the sacrificial ceremony." As Taver and Hyth discussed everything they needed to do and when they'd do it, Jasmine rested her head on Charlie's shoulder.

"Running again." She muttered with a sigh. Charlie shrugged, grinning as he did so.

"It makes life more exciting. Besides, it's better than staying here and dying."

"Well that's true." Jasmine said with a chuckle. He stood, helping her to her feet and they wandered back towards the dinner party. Once there they sat down to chat and laugh as if nothing was going to happen tomorrow to turn the world of these people upon their heads. Scarlet followed them inside soon after, Taver and Hyth trailing after her like the obedient servants they weren't.

The night was long for Scarlet. She lay down on the bed she'd been given staring at the ceiling. She wondered if the Great Queen's son had added stars to the mechanisms he'd built for his people. With that thought she rolled out of bed and made her way onto the roof of the hut she and her friends had been given. Although they were still being treated like royalty, there was a guard posted on each side of the hut. It was a prison. A very fancy prison, but a prison none the less. Once on the roof, Scarlet lay down on the sand which covered it. It was almost softer than the bed she'd been given and she wondered if her bed was filled with sand too. It wouldn't surprise her too much, considering how much sand was available. She shifted a bit, creating a divot which cradled her body.

Scarlet was happy to see that there were indeed stars of a sort. Copies of the constellations had been attached to the solar rings, glowing as they trailed across the "sky". Studying the slow movement, she realized that each constellation was exactly where it would be if they were still on the surface. The Great Queen's son had been a perfectionist it seemed, but it was truly impressive. It was a work of art as much as a scientific marvel. She hoped that someday these people would be able to free themselves from the Eaters and go back onto the surface world.

She heard footsteps and sat up a bit, only to see Taver emerging from the hut. He seemed unable to sleep as well. When he spotted her he grinned and climbed up to meet her. She just lay back down, shifting around again to get her divot back.

"Too excited to sleep?" he asked, finding a comfortable spot for himself.

"Too nervous." She admitted. "I want to be gone soon, especially if the Eaters decide to do things a bit earlier this year…" Taver nodded, forgetting that she couldn't see him. But rather than continue the conversation he decided to distract her instead.

"Well gee, I wonder how I'll pick the constellations out of this mess of stars." He said sarcastically. Scarlet giggled. "Aren't you supposed to be able to see _more_ stars when in the desert?" Scarlet shook her head at his foolishness but was grateful for what he was trying to do. So she followed his lead.

"I don't know what your problem is, I can see millions of stars!" Taver sat up a bit, leaning on his elbows to grin down at her. Her eyes were sparkling, looking like stars themselves.

"Maybe it's a magic I have, I only see the constellations." He joked. His own smile grew when Scarlet giggled again. She sighed and stretched her arms up above her head then rested her head on her interlaced fingers.

"It's amazing really…" she said. Taver lay back down.

"What is?"

"This whole place!" she waved one arm about, referring to the entire planet, solar rings, and star replications. "It's a project which must have taken years of hard work and planning, and it's a secret to all but the people who've been here."

"I think it's sad."

"How so?"

"As incredible as this inner planet is, the fact that it had to be designed at all is so sad. But maybe that will change." Taver said softly, not wanting the guards nearby to hear.

"You really think so?"

"I know so. Hyth has already asked me to show him more about how the solar rings work. He's planning on joining the resistance and finding a way to get rid of the Eaters." He could hear the smile on Scarlet's face when she answered.

"Oh that's perfect! No one deserves such power hungry leaders."

"What constellation is that?" Taver asked suddenly. Scarlet turned her head to look where his hair stuck up from the sand.

"What?" He pointed at one of the star clusters in the "sky".

"That constellation, what is it?" Scarlet looked where he was pointing, but couldn't tell what he was actually pointing at. She scooted over to him, leaning over to see where exactly he was referring to.

"Oh! That's Nevvi, the Owl." She explained.

"Nevvi? That's a weird name."

"Since when are names normal?"

"Good point." The two of them watched as Nevvi the Owl slowly trailed across the sky. "So this is all real time?"

"Mhmm…" Scarlet said, sounding half asleep. Taver looked over at her and ginned when he saw her eyes were closed. She'd curled up on her side, her head resting on her right arm. Her left hand was running through the sand over and over, showing she wasn't quite asleep yet. Taver found himself watching her shifting the sand almost hypnotically. Finally he grabbed her hand.

"Stop that."

"Why?" Scarlet asked, opening her eyes and raising an eyebrow.

"Just because." He said, looking back towards the sky and closing his eyes. Scarlet chuckled, blushing when he didn't let go of her hand. Finally her own eyes drifted closed as well and she fell asleep.

The next morning went quickly. So quickly Jasmine doubted they'd get everything done. While she and Scarlet rode about the city on the Rose Riders, Hyth was taking Taver up to one of the solar rings where they'd decide on the best place to put the depowering device. Charlie and Mr. Dorian were touring the city on foot; their main purpose was to retrieve their original clothing from the hut where they'd been kept when they first arrived.

All too soon the announcement was made that everyone needed to go to their homes, because the Eaters were going to start preparing the city for the sacrificial ritual. Scarlet held her breath, waiting for something to happen. Just then, one of the solar rings went dead. Everyone gasped and pointed to the sky, going home was forgotten. Taver and Hyth had chosen well. This ring was just about to cross the halfway point of the day's progress; the other ring had only just risen.

As everyone else stared at the dead solar ring, Scarlet, Jasmine, Charlie and Mr. Dorian rushed into their hut to change. Outside they heard the panic begin. Perfect. Hyth and Taver dashed into the hut moments later, huffing and puffing. Taver had already changed and Hyth peeked out the window.

"It's so dark…" he said, the worry evident in his voice. Scarlet put a hand on his shoulder.

"Only for now. You know you to take the device off right?" he nodded. "Then there's no problem!" a smile was on her face, Scarlet was more than ready to get out of here. Then she remembered something. She spun to Jasmine, an odd look on her face.

"What?" Jasmine asked, freezing as she tied her sash about her waist.

"The clue! We haven't gotten the next clue!" Scarlet exclaimed. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at each other. Without the next clue how would they know where to go next? Jasmine fingered her necklace, the gold case holding the purple orb. She looked down at it wishing it could somehow make the trance come over her; they really did need to go. Just then the orb flickered.

"Did anyone else see that?" she asked, but no one answered. No one needed to. The orb started to glow, and Jasmine's body started to follow its example. She looked up with a smile, then collapsed.

"Jasmine!" Charlie exclaimed, dashing forward and catching her before she hit the ground. Her body had gone rigid and the voice speaking now seemed strained.

"_You have traveled far and wide,_

_And soon you shall have your reward._

_But before the next clue shall be shared,_

_A bit of the past must first be heard._

'_Left on a porch of jasmine she'll be_

_Growing up not knowing she was the key_

_A relative of old will release the magic_

_And show his own past to be not so tragic.'_

_That was the rhyme her mother last recited,_

_Before the magic was passed on._

_And now, at last, to us you must come_

_But not to our old little town._

_In hiding we've lived for many-a-year,_

_Waiting for the girl to come of age._

_In a book she'll remember, as I've seen too it she does,_

_We're on the planet on the very last page."_

Then, Jasmine's body went limp, and in a large exhale a purple glow flowed out of her mouth and into the orb. The orb pulsed softly with the light, and Jasmine's eyes fluttered open. She looked about in confusion.

"Why are we still here? I was sure that by the time I woke up you lot would have gotten us out of this place." She sat up as if nothing had happened.

"Um…actually.." Charlie stuttered, too shocked to say anything that made sense. Scarlet stepped in for him.

"You just collapsed, maybe two minutes ago. You were out for the riddle and woke up right after."

"Right after? But…usually I'm asleep for hours!" Jasmine exclaimed.

"The foreign essence left your body." Hyth explained, though he clearly didn't know the whole story.

"You mean the voodoo curse?" Jasmine asked, looking at him. Hyth shrugged.

"What left you was not a curse. But I do not know the voodoo magic very well. From what it looks like, whatever voodoo priestess cursed you, actually instilled a bit of their essence into your body."

"My grandmother's body actually."

"Ah, then it was passed on. Whatever the essence's purpose, it has been fulfilled."

"So…no more riddles?" Jasmine asked, partly excited and partly sad. While she wouldn't miss the headaches, she was suddenly very nervous about where they were off to next. She turned to Taver who was putting his notebook away. "What was the riddle?" But Taver shook his head.

"We can go over that after we get out of here; we need to utilize the panic we've created." He said. Scarlet went to the window, watching as feet shuffled by in frenzy.

"He's right, we need to get going." She turned and finished lacing up the front of her over dress. Jasmine nodded allowing Charlie to help her to her feet. He put his hands on either side of her face, brushing the stray hairs out of her eyes.

"You alright?" Jasmine nodded an odd smile on her face.

"Yeah actually. I feel, energized almost. Like…like I found something I'd lost." She said. Charlie chuckled and kissed her on the forehead, wrapping his arms about her shoulders. Her arms slid around his waist and she rested her head in the crook of his neck.

But that wasn't good enough for her. She pulled back and kissed him soundly barely a moment later. He could feel her happiness in the kiss and pulled her closer and she smiled contentedly against his lips. She'd been wanting to do that for ages now.

"Oy! You two can get a room when we're out of here!" Taver said, wrapping a cloak about his shoulders. Scarlet and Mr. Dorian already had theirs on and Jasmine and Charlie hurried to follow. It was time to escape.

* * *

_I hope i'm not boring everyone...I know this is kind of a filler chapter. Not a whole lot happened really. Don't worry, Chapter 12 is filled to the brim with emotions of every sort, muahahaha! :D_

_Please please review, it makes me so very happy!!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Charlie led the way from the hut, ducking under the low door frame. Hyth followed him and immediately led the rest down a back alley between the maze of huts. A moment later, an odd screeching roar was heard echoing throughout the planet's interior. Hyth froze shaking in fear.

"They're coming…the Eaters are coming!" he told them. He picked up his pace, leading them around the twists and turns. It didn't take long before the group was entirely lost, they'd never have gotten out without Hyth's help. "They're calling everyone together, they'll be meeting in the main square." He said as he ran. "I need to be back before they realize I'm missing."

Then he suddenly stopped short, they'd reached the base of one of the ladders. It was the same one they'd come down on, Jasmine realized. And most conveniently, it was hidden in the shadow created by the dead solar ring. No one would be able to see them leaving. Hyth waved them up the ladder and Mr. Dorian hurried to lead the way. Charlie, Jasmine and Taver followed him up, leaving Scarlet at the bottom. She gave Hyth a grateful smile and pulled him into a hug.

"Thank you Hyth, for everything you've done." He hesitated, then hugged her back.

"No Princess, thank _you_. Without your coming, I may have gone on believing that there was nothing we could do to fight back. Thanks to you and your friends, the Resistance will soon be growing." Scarlet smiled as she pulled away.

"I'm not your princess." She patiently reminded him. He only smiled kindly and bowed low to the ground.

"You will always be our Princess." he shoved something into her hands and she glanced down to see a sheathed knife. "It belonged to the Queen. Now go, and take care!" Scarlet gave him another quick hug then scrambled up the ladder to catch up with the others.

After what seemed like ages, the group emerged into the sand covered village on the surface. Their longboat was still tied to the pipe from which they'd escaped, though it was half buried in sand. As Scarlet and Taver hurried to shift it all out, Charlie went to the rope where it was tied. Thanks to the harsh wind, all the moisture had been sucked from the rope, and in doing so, it had shrunk and pulled tighter than before. It was hard as a rock, and they'd never get it untied. Jasmine came to the rescue this time, pulling a knife from her boot top and slicing easily through the twisted rope.

Just then, the screeching roar was heard again, coming directly from the ventilation pipe. Another sounded directly after…and it was closer. The Eaters were coming after them! Mr. Dorian half shoved Taver and Scarlet out of the way, and lifted the boat from the sand, dumping it's too heavy contents into the wind which swept it away. Now it floated gently above the surface, only being held in place by the large man's strength.

"Get in!" he ordered the children. They scrambled to follow the order; they didn't need to be told twice. Another screech made the very air around them vibrate; they were much too close now. Mr. Dorian hopped into the boat and shoved off the pipe, and they flew wildly through the stormy air.

Jasmine fell sideways and Charlie grabbed her to hold her in the boat. Scarlet and Taver huddled together at the bow, sitting on the floor rather than on the seats themselves. Mr. Dorian grabbed the rudder and straightened them out in the air. He aimed them straight upwards, wanting to get away as fast as possible.

The sound of yet another screech made Scarlet turn and look. She gasped in fear as a swarm of creatures flowed from the ventilation pipe. They were like larger versions of the Skifaran people, except they were entirely black. She couldn't tell their eyes from their skin. They moved and flowed like liquid shadows, a black mist flowing about them and making it hard to get the numbers. They finally saw the retreating longboat and as one they all lifted their hands and pointed to the sky. The black mist swirling around their feet shot into the air, directly at them!

"Dorian!" Jasmine shrieked in fear. She didn't know what she expected the man to do, but she only knew that he was the one with the controls and he was their only hope. He turned to look and opened the throttle to its fullest extent. But it wasn't enough, the mist reached them too quickly. It swirled around the boat and finally noticed Scarlet. It shot forward as if it had eyes which could see her and tried to grab at her.

Almost without thinking, Scarlet grabbed the sheathed dagger Hyth had given her. She drew the blade, and realized that it glowed a soft green color. She slashed at the mist and it recoiled as if in pain. She stared as the misty hand curled upon itself, her eyes wide.

"Do that again, it's hurting them!" Taver cried in her ear. She looked to see the black mass of creatures on the ground howling in pain. She narrowed her eyes in determination and continued to slash at the mist every time it got close. The screeching of those on the surface got worse and worse, and she found she rather enjoyed it. She took out all her fear and anger on the mist, knowing that these horrible people deserved it after all they'd done for her friends here on Skifara.

Jasmine looked down at the black swirling mass of creatures below them. They were swiftly growing smaller, it looked like they might get away. She clutched Charlie's arm in happiness. "It's working" she exclaimed. But then...something happened which wiped the smile right from her face.

There was someone else in the crowd now…one of the Eaters was different. First of all, he was double the size of all the rest. Jasmine had to wonder how he'd managed to fit through the ventilation pipe at all. But most startling was the fact that unlike his shadowy brethren he was a blinding white, with only two large black eyes glaring up at them. It opened a gaping hole of a mouth and screeched, loud enough that they all had to cover their ears at the pain. As he screamed, a white mist in the shape of a hand flowed from his mouth and reached the boat faster than even the black mist had.

The white being lifted off the ground, using his white misty hand to float right up to them, and suddenly he stood directly in front of the boat, preventing it from going any farther. Scarlet slashed at him with her knife but he simply grabbed her tiny wrist between two of his very large fingers. He twitched them and they all heard the bones in the girl's arm snap like a twig. She screamed as the sharp pain flooded through her body, the knife fell from her fingers to the ground below.

"You…are now mine." The creature said in a deep voice which seemed to echo through their very spines. He leaned forward and inhaled. Scarlet tried to pull away, but things were happening too fast. The rest watched in horror as the very color started to fade from Scarlet's hair and face, even her clothing was turning white! The creature in the meantime suddenly had patches of the color floating about on his skin, as if he were absorbing them for himself. Suddenly, Scarlet was no longer the colorful redhead she once was, but only a colorless shell. Now, the thing that was leaving her body was…her very breath. She was forced to exhale as the creature inhaled, until she fell limp and lifeless in his hand.

"Scarlet!" Jasmine screeched. She lunged forwards, but the creature easily dodged her and spoke, now a hint of Scarlet's voice could be heard in his own.

"You're friend's soul will be put to good use." He said. "And her memories were very tasty." His gaping mouth twisted into an evil slash of a smile. "You are free to go, I have all I wanted." He pulled back, leaving Scarlet's lifeless body to sink to the bottom of the longboat.

Jasmine leapt forwards, cradling the white shell of a girl in her arms. Tears flowed down her face as she realized that Scarlet, her best friend in the whole world, was suddenly gone. She hadn't even been able to say a word of goodbye! Charlie came forward to hold Jasmine close.

Suddenly, the winds surrounding them grew to a terrible ferocity. It seemed the Eaters had the power they needed to control the winds again, and now they wanted them gone. Jasmine was forced to let go of Scarlet's body as she clutched for a handhold on the boat. And in doing so, the shell slipped from the bottom of the boat and out into open air. Jasmine choked back a sob as she watched her friend's body plummet towards the ground. She landed with a dull thump in the sand below them, a thump they could hear even from their great height. The wind shifted again, now pushing the longboat away from the planet.

And suddenly…everything was silent. The longboat had emerged from the shell of wind which encased the planet, and the sand below them shifted in the air of the atmosphere. Jasmine leaned over the side of the boat, trying to get a glimpse of Scarlet's body, but was unable to see anything. She shook her head in disbelief, her hands clutched over her mouth.

"She…no…it can't have…please let me be dreaming." She stumbled out, burying her face in her hands. Charlie reached over once again, pulling her away from the edge of the boat and into his arms. Jasmine clutched at his shirt desperately, as if he was the only thing keeping her from floating off into a sea of despair. "Oh my poor Scarlet…"

Sadly Mr. Dorian placed a large hand on the throttle once again. All control had been restored the moment they'd left the bubble of Skifara's atmosphere. Floating gently above them was the _Dragonspear_. They heard a cry from some of the crew, and slowly a number of people came to look over the railing.

"Ahoy there!" they heard Silver cry a moment later. Dorian steered them upwards until they reached the ship. They slowly floated into the lower deck where Dorian and Taver hurried to tie it up. Charlie lifted Jasmine from her curled up position at his side and climbed out of the longboat. In what felt like slow motion, he walked through the bowels of the ship, heading towards their rooms.

He passed Silver on the way. The man greeted them with a smile. "Get what you need?" he asked in a cheerful voice. He then realized that Charlie was still carrying a sobbing Jasmine and his eyebrows knotted together in worry. "What 'appened?" he asked them. Mr. Dorian cleared his throat as the kids just went to their cabins.

"I'll explain sir, I think the young ones need time." Silver watched as Charlie and Taver walked away down the hall.

"Where's Scarlet?"

"That is what needs to be explained." Dorian said in a quiet voice. He refused to say another word until he and Silver were alone in the Captain's quarters and he filled the man in on the events of the past few days.

---------------

"She's not eating."

"She won't talk either, I can't get her to even get out of bed."

"This is bad…"

Charlie and Taver sat at a table in the mess hall, though their own food was only sitting there getting cold. They were discussing Jasmine once again. They'd been having similar conversations for days now, both of them were getting worried that Jasmine had lost her will to live. She would only lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling for hours on end. The only time she got up was to use the privy. Charlie would often go in and sit with her, trying to talk to her about anything. Anything which might peak her interest. But no matter what he said, she only ignored him, seeming like she was no longer in her own body. And frankly, it scared him witless. They'd already lost Scarlet, sweet innocent Scarlet. And now he feared they may have lost the spunky Jasmine they all knew and loved.

Silver took a seat at the table with a sigh, setting down a tray of cold food beside him. It was yet another meal Jasmine hadn't eaten.

"I'm worried lads." He told them both. "I don't know what to say to her." Taver shook his head.

"We need someone else to try…someone who can get through to her no matter what."

"Yeah, but that person was Scarlet. And she's not exactly around to do anything…" Charlie pointed out. The boys all sighed and looked down at the table.

"Excuse me sirs." A voice said. Charlie looked around the empty mess hall. There was no one else there. Who'd spoken? "Down here, the glowing purple thing!" He looked to see the purple orb Jasmine now refused to look at. He'd taken it away from her before she could throw it across the room and shatter it, as she'd tried to do when they'd first gotten back. He'd been carrying it around ever since in habit.

"What?" he asked dumbly. He heard a sigh come from the orb and his eyes went wide. The orb had just…sighed? They watched as the orb started to glow the tiniest but brighter, pulsing with a heartbeat it hadn't had before.

"What you lot need to do is bring her to me!" the voice said, sounding rather irritated.

"And…who are you exactly?" Charlie asked.

"Who do you think would be able to channel their voice through an orb infused with voodoo magic? I'm the one who had to make the curse in the first place. I'm the one Jasmine called Lady."

"You're Lady?" Silver asked in disbelief. "How come you've never talked to us before now?"

"I couldn't. But just the other day, I suddenly got a bunch of my power back, I can only assume the last riddle was spoken. Now that I have my power back, I can communicate. As long as someone has the orb that is. Now tell me why you lot aren't here yet."

"Because we don't know where 'here' is." Taver pointed out. "The riddle said Jasmine would remember a book or something, but she won't even talk to us now."

"Ah…" Lady said, sounding sheepish. "Yes I can see how that would cause a problem or two. Well you better let me speak to her." Charlie raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Last time she looked at the orb she tried to break it…"

"Trust me, it'll work." The boys looked at each other, silently asking if it was a good idea. "Well, get on with it!" the voice ordered sharply. Charlie leapt to his feet and did so, grabbing the orb and carrying it to Jasmine's room. For some reason, that was a voice he couldn't disobey. There was nothing magical about it, but Lady was obviously a woman who was used to giving orders and not being argued with.

"Jasmine?" he called softly as he opened the door. The girl didn't react at all to his entry. He sighed as he looked at her sunken cheeks and limp dull hair. She was in bad shape. Hopefully Lady would be able to help… "There's someone here to speak to you." He said, setting the orb on the table beside her bed. He turned and left, closing the door softly behind him.

Jasmine waited until he was out of the room before she turned to look at the orb. She knew she was being selfish, but she simply couldn't find the will to actually do anything! She glared at the orb, and the curse which had come along with it. If that curse hadn't been around, then Scarlet would still be alive. Filled with a sudden energy, she shot into a seated position and grabbed the orb, ready to throw it at the opposite wall.

"Put the orb down this instant!" a familiar voice cried. Jasmine froze in shock.

"Lady?" she asked aloud, her voice hoarse from lack of use.

"Yes dearie, it's me." the voice said, now softer and more comforting. "Though I won't be able to stay very long if you shatter the orb." Jasmine slowly lowered her arm and stared. "Now, what exactly is your problem lately?" the voice's sharpness increased once again and Jasmine glared.

"My best friend in the world just died, I'm not in the mood."

"Oh don't be silly. What would Scarlet say if she saw you now?" Jasmine didn't answer that. She knew Scarlet would scold her for wasting everyone's time and effort. "Exactly. So what are you doing now but dishonoring her? If you were to die would you have wanted Scarlet to give up on everything?"

"…No."

"Exactly again. You'd want her to go on living, and go on being _alive_. I think Scarlet's memory deserves more than you moping around, don't you think?"

"But I _want_ to mope!" Jasmine said, hating how winey it sounded.

"All the more reason not to. You have other people around who you love don't you? Your grandfather, and your friends? Don't you think they deserve time to grieve without worrying about you offing yourself suddenly?"

"I…I suppose so." Jasmine whispered. Lady's voice softened again and she could hear the smile on her voice.

"There you are dearie. Let the needs of others pull you through your own troubles. You all need to support each other. Now I have to go."

"What? Already?"

"This spell takes a lot of energy dearie, I can't keep it going forever. Besides, you have work to do. The sooner you solve the riddle, the sooner you can find me and your mother." Before Jasmine could say another word, the glow faded, and her connection to Lady along with it.

"Why couldn't you have just told me?" she asked the unresponsive orb. She sighed, knowing that Lady was right. She was being stupid…and Scarlet would have told her so. She shuddered as the image of Scarlet's colorless body floated through her mind. She couldn't let this get the best of her…she needed to remember Scarlet as she was in life not death. She imagined Scarlet reading aloud to Taver in the library, her shoes discarded on the floor. She imagined her clutching the mast in her nightgown as they tried to escape the asteroid field. She pictured her cooking over the open fire back in the Gypsy camp.

Jasmine smiled sadly, feeling a bit better already. Scarlet had been her best friend and an amazing person…the best way to remember her was to try and be as good a friend as she'd been. Jasmine sighed and stood, her knees wobbling a bit. Her stomach growled almost painfully and she groaned. She hung the orb around her neck once again, not wanting to let go of it any longer. She had some cleaning up to do…

* * *

_Oh, i'm sure you all hate me right now...please review anyway though!!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Charlie sat in the crow's nest once again, though his mind wasn't on the task he'd been given. All he could think of was Jasmine, and whether or not Lady had snapped her out of the daze she seemed to be living in now.

"Hey." A hesitant voice said from beside him. Charlie jumped and looked to see none other than

"Jasmine!" her mouth shifted into an amused smile.

"That is my name yes."

"I thought…I mean…I didn't see you."

"Again." She said with a teasing voice. It was that that made Charlie stop and look at her. For days she'd been like a zombie in her room, not doing anything. But now, she wore clean clothing, her hair was still damp from a recent wash, and her cheeks were flushed pink from being scrubbed.

"You…you feeling better?" he asked hesitantly. She sat beside him as she nodded.

"Much. I needed some sense knocked into me…Lady was always good at that." She admitted with a laugh. Charlie just placed a hand over hers.

"I'm glad she is, we were getting worried." Jasmine looked down at her lap guiltily.

"I'm really sorry-" she started but Charlie cut her off.

"You're fine." He assured her. "We all know why you were upset and everything, you don't have to explain."

"Then why do I feel so bad?" she asked him, looking him right in the eye. "Why do I feel like I should be apologizing?"

"Well…Silver was pretty-"

"Not to Silver." Jasmine interrupted. "To you."

"To me?"

"Yes. I fell like out of everyone here, you deserve an apology more than anyone else."

"I have no idea why." Charlie admitted. "But there is something you could do to make up for all the worry you caused me." His eyes were twinkling with mischief. She raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Oh? And what might that be?" Charlie didn't answer in words, instead he snaked a hand behind her head and pulled her lips to his own. She hesitated only a fraction of a second before leaning into the kiss whole heartedly. The night around them disappeared in bliss, and neither was in a hurry to make it come back.

* * *

Silver found Jasmine in the large common area a short time later. He stopped in shock, surprised at the quick turn in her behavior. He realized as he watched her though…she hadn't just moved on. Her graceful steps were calmer, less of a dance than usual. Her eyes, though calm, held grief and sadness still. She ran her fingers methodically over the book bindings, searching for something.

"Need help finding something less?" he finally asked her. She jumped and spun, only to laugh at her own fright.

"Silver, you scared me!" she exclaimed, sending a playful glare in his direction. Silver just chuckled and came forward to sit in a nearby armchair.

"I'm just too sneaky for ya." He told her. "So what are you looking for?"

"Taver showed me the latest riddle…apparently I'm supposed to remember something about a book. But I've been thinking about it for ages and I have no idea what Lady was talking about."

"Well…it must be something you read when you were young. Did you have any story books?"

"Yes…tons." Her eyes lit up. "Of course!" she dashed over and gave Silver a hug. "Thank you for everything!" she exclaimed before she left the room.

"You're welcome darlin'." Silver said to the empty room, chuckling as he settled down for a nap.

Jasmine meanwhile was already up by the wheel, pulling up schematics on the nearby computer. She twiddled knobs and pressed buttons, trying to find whatever it was she was searching for.

"I'm going to guess you've remembered something?" she heard Taver's voice say from beside her. She nodded as he came to look over her shoulder.

"There was this book I had when I was little, a story about pirates and treasure and whatnot. It was all hand drawn, nothing mechanical about it." Taver looked entirely perplexed by this notion, most story books played out in motion on the very pages of a book. She laughed at his face. "We were poor, what can I say? Anyway, the last page was my favorite, because the picture was the prettiest."

"Well, what was it of?"

"Mum always said it was a planet named 'Destiny', and that she'd made it up when she was young. It was always green and sunny and happy."

"But…if it was made up, then how are we going to get there?"

"That's just it!" Jasmine exclaimed in her happiness. "Shortly before I was taken away, my mother found a reference to a place called the Destiny Café on a planet not too far from us. She joked about it being her Planet Destiny, but she'd kept the advertisement anyway. I think that maybe they've gone there!" A smile suddenly exploded across her face. "And there it is!" she pointed to a tiny planet on the screen with the label reading 'Furryn City'.

"Furryn City?"

"Yes. It's another city large enough to be its own moon. I bet they're there!"

"Then it's on to Furryn city." Silver's voice said from behind them. He turned and entered the coordinates into the computer, and the man at the wheel set the course in the proper direction. "Sandy, here I come." He whispered. Jasmine smiled and hugged him around the middle.

* * *

"Bundle up, it looks pretty chilly down there." Charlie was saying. He helped Jasmine into her coat and buttoned the buttons for her as she giggled at him. He shushed her with a kiss and she smiled at him gently. By the time he was done they'd landed in a small shadowy area of the town. One that didn't look the most trustworthy if Jasmine was honest with herself. Silver led the way down the gangplank. He wasn't going to be left behind this time, that was certain.

"Don't let anyone else on board." He told Mr. Dorian in a soft voice. "If you can avoid it, don't answer any questions either."

"Yes sir." Mr. Dorian said with a salute. He made his way back up on deck and set about putting some of the crew on a watch schedule. Others were put on repair detail. They were still heavily damaged from the asteroid field before Skifara and hadn't had a decent chance to repair it. In the meantime, Jasmine stuck close to Charlie's side, unwilling to let go of his hand even for a moment.

"Are we sure this is right?" she asked no one in particular. No one bothered to answer; they were all wondering the same thing. They'd gotten directions from a helpful patrolman before entering the atmosphere. Now they knew why he'd looked so surprised at their intended destination.

They made their way through the winding streets. The buildings were small and crowded close together here, and they made the streets almost dark enough to need lamp light. They leaned a bit over the streets as well, making it feel as if they were walking through dark tunnels.

Just when Jasmine was going to suggest that they leave and ask for new directions, they emerged into a town square of sorts. They all gasped at the sight.

On the north end of the square sat a charming looking cottage of a building, with carefully whitewashed walls and green painted shutters. An expansive garden sat in front of it, filled with benches and sets of tables and chairs. People sat at these tables being served food which all smelled delicious. Though the customers themselves didn't all look to be the most trustworthy of people, they were all on their best behavior and they ate the food with relish. It was like a piece of another world in the middle of the city! A sign over the door read 'The Destiny Café'.

"Wow." Taver muttered, impressed. The others nodded in agreement, all speechless. Silver led the way across the open square and in through the gate of the garden. They passed the filled tables of chatting people and went inside. The interior of the building was just as charming really. It had a homey feel to it, like they'd all come home just in time for a warm supper. An older woman with a pleasant smile came up to them.

"Hello how can-" she gasped in shock as she took in the sight of them, dropping the tray she held. At the sound of breaking dishes, a younger woman came out.

"Mom? Is everything alright?" She too stopped short when she saw them standing there.

"John?" the first woman said in a strangled voice. Silver stepped forward, tears rolling down his cheek from his human eye.

"Sandy!" he exclaimed in a soft voice. They ran towards each other, embracing tightly. Jasmine smiled happily at them and let go of Charlie's hand. She stepped forward to the younger woman and Charlie realized just how similar they looked.

"Hello mum." The woman's eyes widened in shock.

"Jasmine? Is that my little Jasmine? All tall and grown up?" without waiting for an answer, Evelyn practically pounced on her daughter in happiness. "You've come back!"

"And it's about time they showed up, I was expecting them days ago!" Charlie recognized the voice of Lady behind him and smiled at her. She was a tiny old woman, more wrinkles than anything else. But there was a fierce spark in her eyes which hadn't faded with age.

"You knew they were coming?" Evelyn asked her, still holding Jasmine close. "Why didn't you say anything?" Lady just tapped the side of her nose with a secretive smile; she obviously wasn't planning on giving any explanation for her actions. Instead she looked around at the people who all started.

"Alright everyone, there's nothing to see here, get back to your food!" she exclaimed, waving her hands about wildly. The group then followed her through the large swinging door and into a large kitchen. Everyone was shocked when Sandy grabbed a wicked looking knife and spun to point it at Silver. He put his hands in surrender.

"You never rescued me!" the woman exclaimed.

"What? I didn't know where you were!" Silver insisted. "You never came back, and by the time I figured out what was going on, you were long gone!"

"You could have searched harder, you should have guessed-" she broke off into sobs. She dropped the knife and knelt on the floor. "You never came…" Silver shushed her and knelt down beside her, pulling the woman close.

"Let's leave them be for now." Jasmine suggested softly. Lady nodded her agreement.

"Come into the office." She instructed, holding another door open for them all. They did so and took seats around the room. All except Jasmine who circled it in awe.

"Well Mum, you found your Planet Destiny after all." She said with a smile. Evelyn glared at her softly.

"That's all you have to say? After all these years?" Jasmine shrugged, shamefaced.

"After all these years…I don't know _what_ to say." She admitted. Evelyn sighed and slumped down into a chair.

"Neither do I really." She admitted. Charlie almost wanted to laugh. These three women were so like each other it was most amusing. "So…that was John? Your grandfather?"

"Yeah."

"He seems like a good man…I can see why Mother loves him."

"He is a good man." Jasmine told her confidently. "One of the best I've met." Evelyn shrugged.

"It's odd to me still. I never met him, only heard stories from Mother." Jasmine chuckled.

"Welcome to the club." The two women looked at each other and burst out laughing, coming together in a hug.

"I missed you." Jasmine whispered into her shoulder.

"I missed you too my Blossom."

* * *

The afternoon was spent with the reunited family getting caught up on each other's lives. The Destiny Café was a successful enough place that both Evelyn and Sandy were able to leave the running of the dinner rush to hired hands. They all enjoyed a rowdy dinner, filled to the brim with funny stories and happy memories. By the time it was over, the sun had long ago set and the lamps had been lit, and Jasmine was exhausted.

Despite the bed she'd been given and the room she had to herself, she was unable to sleep though. She felt odd…as if something was missing. She had her mother back, and her grandmother had her grandfather once again…Lady was already planning her trip home to Rika. Jasmine felt lonely though…she didn't want to be alone right now.

She slipped from between the crisp sheets and shivered in the night air. She wore an old nightgown of her mother's, a soft green sleeveless dress, which reached past her toes. She'd forgotten just how tall her mother was. She picked it up from the floor and tiptoed out of the room to the door across the hall. She slipped inside it and went to the bed by the far wall. Charlie slept there, looking perfectly content. His mouth was open slightly and he was breathing deeply, and Jasmine smiled down at him. As carefully as possible, she lifted the blankets from him and slid in beside him. She curled up against his side, her head on his chest. She smiled when he shifted to hold her closer and closed her eyes. His heartbeat put her to sleep in seconds.

Charlie opened one eye and looked down. Jasmine was sneaky, but not enough to not wake him. He'd kept quiet though it though, and only pulled her close when she lay down. He smiled down at the top of her head, her black hair was mussed. She must have been tossing and turning for ages before coming in here. And now, she was already fast asleep! He sighed happily and kissed the top of her head, closing his own eyes as he allowed himself to drift off to sleep once more.

* * *

"So what about the treasure?"

"Hmm?" Jasmine perked up from where she'd been curled up, half asleep on Charlie's shoulder. The group sat in the tiny parlor of the house above the café, discussing what was going to happen next.

"The treasure the whole curse thing was supposed to lead to." Taver said in explanation. "The final clue was supposed to lead us to treasure wasn't it?" Jasmine blinked as she realized he was right. She'd forgotten all about the promised riches in the search for her family!

"I…I have no idea." She finally admitted. She looked over at Lady who was folding clothes fresh from the laundry.

"Don't look at me dearie." she said simply. "I never saw Flint's treasure or anything, I don't know where it is."

"So…what happens now?" Charlie asked, looking around at the others for an idea.

"We have to go the source." Jasmine said in a soft voice. She blinked when the others looked at her oddly. "What?"

"You just said…"

"I didn't say anything."

"Yeah, you said we had to go to the source." Jasmine raised an eyebrow.

"Why would I say something like that? I don't even know what it means." She jumped when Lady came over to peer in her eyes.

"Ah ha!" the old woman finally exclaimed. "There's still some of the curse infused within your soul!"

"What? Why? I thought the last riddle was given?" Lady only shrugged.

"It seems like there was one last clue left to give. The spell left your body with the last one because it didn't need to be there any longer to give new clues, but it had already attached the final one to your soul."

"Then…there's another clue? How am I supposed to get to it?" Lady shrugged and went back to the laundry.

"I don't have all the answers child." Was all she said. She then grabbed the folded clothing and left, leaving Jasmine, Charlie and Taver to wonder what to do next.

"Wonderful." Jasmine said with a sigh, laying her head back on Charlie's shoulder. "Usually the clues give some sort of…task or something to do. This last one didn't give us anything." Taver looked down at the notebook, reading the riddle over and over.

"Actually…it may have. I'll be right back." He shot to his feet and left the room. Jasmine and Charlie barely had time to glance at each other in confusion before he was back, carrying a very old book. Jasmine's eyes widened.

"That's…"

"Your story book from when you were little, yeah. The riddle says that your family was on the planet on the very last page, right?"

"Yes…" Jasmine said slowly, taking the book with gentle hands. She turned the well worn pages with her long fingers, looking at the beautiful pictures.

"Well…maybe there was more to that last page than just a clue to finding your family." Jasmine nodded and flipped to the back page, and gasped at what she saw. Rather than the lovely scene she'd loved as a child, a splash of red blood covered the page.

"I- I don't understand…what-" before she could finish, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell limp in Charlie's arms.

"Jasmine!" he cried in fear, noticing she wasn't breathing. "No….no Jasmine wake up!" She suddenly gasped for air, coughing violently.

"What happened?" she asked between coughs and Charlie flopped weakly backwards.

"You stopped breathing…just stopped." Jasmine took a deep breath and leaned back into the pillows.

"But…a clue? Something?" Taver shook his head and she blinked in confusion. "That doesn't make any sense…I saw the red and passed out…if that wasn't the clue to- wait…" she looked down at the page. It was free of blood, the pretty picture from her childhood was fine. "I…I know where we have to go." She stood and purposefully left the room. Taver and Charlie scrambled to follow her as she left the apartment above the café, then walked out of the café itself. Charlie and Taver looked around curiously as she led them through the winding streets, but Jasmine only looked ahead, her eyes distant as if she could see something they couldn't.

Jasmine suddenly stopped short, staring at what appeared to be a plain brick wall. She heard Charlie and Taver come to a stop behind her, and knew they were probably very confused. Without saying a word, Jasmine lifted her hand, letting it move on its own. Somehow, she knew what to do, though she had no idea just how she knew such a thing. She gently touched one of the bricks, just like all the rest, and traced its outline. Then she touched the center of the brick and pushed gently, and the brick slid into the wall and disappeared.

"It's here." Was all she said. Without waiting for her to say anything else, Charlie and Taver came forward and helped her to push at the bricks in the wall, listening to them falling inside to the ground, echoing as if it was a large cave. When there was a hole large enough for them to crawl though they did so, peering about in the dark.

"I can't see a thing." Charlie said in a whisper. Jasmine nodded, then remembered that he couldn't see her.

"Me either…I don't have anything to light the way either."

"Taver? Have a lighter or something?"

"'Fraid not."

"Great, now what are we supposed to do?" Just as Charlie's voice faded into the darkness a small light appeared, looking a distance away, as if it was down a long tunnel. "Oh…well…I guess we follow the lights?" He took Jasmine's hand and led the way down the tunnel, Taver bringing up the rear.

This pattern continued for a time. The three of them felt their way through the tunnels, and each time they reached a light they saw another light up a good distance away. The walls were metal sheets welded together, and more solid than rock. They all lost track of time, but they had no choice but to keep going. Whenever they reached a new light the one behind them would go out. And they'd all felt the side tunnels which branched off the one they were following, they'd get completely lost if they tried to find their way out. Finally they reached a light and nothing else lit up.

"Well…now what?" Charlie asked, looking around. Jasmine, once again acting on instinct, grabbed the handle of the lit torch with both hands and twisted it. It clicked into place once it was horizontal and the entire wall split in two, sliding away.

"Wow..." She breathed at the sight before her.

* * *

_Only one more chapter left! This chapter had a bunch of mushiness...I hope no one minded. I figured we needed some happy mushiness considering every that's happened to these guys ^^_

_Hope you enjoyed the chapter, please review!!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Jasmine gasped in wonder at the sight revealed before her. In front of them was a huge room, one which seemed to stretch on forever. And covering the floor were mounds and mounds of treasure. However right in front of them sat a ship. A ship made of solid gold. The three teens walked forward in a daze, circling the ship.

"It's beautiful…" Jasmine whispered

"It's going to make us richer than kings!" Taver exclaimed as he climbed up onto the deck of the ship. "Look! The wheel is covered in rubies!" Charlie scrambled up as well, admiring the diamond door handles and the way the mast was covered in gems of every color.

Jasmine however stayed on the floor. She felt like something was wrong, something was supposed to happen. She had no idea what, but a terrible feeling of dread filled her mind. She could only guess that when Flint forced the curse to be made and the location was pulled from his mind by magic, maybe something else had been pulled away as well. If he had thought fleetingly of a trap or something…then that thought was now in her mind. And she was certain that something was wrong. That something was going to happen.

"Um…guys? I don't like this…" she muttered, then repeated it louder.

"What's not to like?" Charlie pointed out. "We're rich enough to buy entire planets!" Jasmine shook her head and climbed up onto the ship.

"Flint would never leave such treasure unguarded."

"Sure he would, he never expected it to be found." Taver sad, spinning the wheel wildly.

"Flint was anything but stupid, he knows it would be found eventually. And he wouldn't want anyone else to have it." She pointed out. Charlie leaned thoughtfully against the railing of the ship.

"She's right...when my parents found the Loot of a Thousand Worlds, the whole planet exploded." He told them. Jasmine's eyes widened.

"The whole planet? But…there are people here!" she exclaimed in horror. The three of them looked around in tense silence and finally Taver sighed.

"Nothing is happening. If there was a trap, it would have gone off by now." He said reasonably. He set off to explore the ship, opening the heavy solid gold door to the captain's stateroom. As he disappeared Charlie gave Jasmine a shrug. The gypsy girl looked unconvinced however.

"Guys! Guys, come look at this!" Taver shouted, excitement lacing his voice. Jasmine hurried over and Charlie pulled her up over the side of the ship and they hurried inside.

Taver stood by a pedestal, on top of it sat a chunk of rock. "What is it?" the boy asked. Jasmine came over and bent to look closer, and touched it with a graceful finger. She pulled back with a gasp when the spot she touched flared brightly, settling to a soft blue glow which slowly faded. Charlie's jaw dropped.

"Ravite." He breathed, touching another spot. It flared and shone as bright as the first before fading.

"Ravite? What's that?" Jasmine asked and Charlie grinned.

"Ravite is a very mysterious and very rare substance. It was used by the ancients who first discovered space travel. This rock could power an entire fleet of starships, or an entire moon or small planet by itself, it's huge compared to what we find nowadays!"

"You mean…this is more powerful than solar power?" Taver asked in disbelief, gaping when Charlie nodded.

"With a stone this size, you could buy a fifth of the galaxy." Jasmine looked at the odd stone in shock.

"Where did Flint get it?"

"He must have it recorded somewhere." Charlie said thoughtfully. "All captains keep logs, don't they?" he turned and started searching the room, but Jasmine inspected the stone itself and realized there was something written on it in a different language. It wasn't one she recognized.

"Hey, look!" Charlie said, opening a notebook. "Flint writes 'I have found the source. The source of the mysterious power of the ancients. They have an entire city carved from it. To walk through it is to leave trails of glowing footprints. Everything that is touched glows. The city appears to have been abandoned, but it seems as if it was yesterday. Food sits untouched at tables, looking fresh and ripe. It is still edible, and the flavor is rich. No dust has collected, but there is no evidence of anyone living here.'"

Charlie took a deep breath and continued. "'I suspect that the Ravite somehow preserves the city itself. There is evidence of a battle, a large portion of the city is collapsed completely. Despite my efforts, my men have yet to dig through. If it was a cave in, the area on the other side is well protected.

"'I wonder if this stone somehow…preserves life. The piece I have carried with me on my travels seems to keep the food on the ship fresher. No one has gotten sick for weeks, even the scientist I captured who tends to get terribly space-sick. I am working on translating the symbols on the stone. It was everywhere in the city. I have written down every written word in this notebook in the hopes that I can somehow translate it. I feel if I can find the key to their language, I can discover what happened to these once great people.' It goes on, but it's mostly notes on grammar and stuff." Charlie said, flipping through the notebook.

Taver went to the rock and grabbed it. "We should take these along with some treasure. Just in case we can't get back here for some reason." Jasmine was about to agree when Taver lifted the stone from its place. And suddenly, the floor was rumbling. The gypsy groaned softly.

"I _told_ you I didn't like this!" she exclaimed. She turned and hurried out the door and the boys followed. "We have to get out of here. Hurry!" she ran from the ship, the boys hot on her heels. They turned at the door to see the gold actually melting. In the few places they could see the floor, they could see that it was cheery red, hotter than a fire could generally get. They hurried backwards as the melting gold melted to a golden lake, the jewels and other treasures floating in it like colorful leaves. The golden ship was melting from the bottom and Taver sighed sadly as it sunk slowly.

Suddenly, a rush of sound was heard, and slots in the wall opened to let in large amounts of cold water. The water flowed through the room, hissing as it came in contact with molten gold. The room filled with steam and the trio stood in place, squinting to see as the hot steam dampened their clothes and hair. Slowly, everything cooled off and the steam cleared, revealing the room once again.

The gold had cooled solid once more in a giant solid slab, like a gold ocean frozen in time. The ship hadn't entirely melted, but the bow stuck up in the air as if it was in the process of going under.

"Well…we can't get any treasure." Jasmine said softly. Taver sighed and looked at the rock he still carried.

"And we can't just sell this…it needs to be studied, not sold." Charlie grinned, the book tucked under his arm.

"I think Dr. Doppler is going to be very pleased with this find." Jasmine giggled at him.

"And Silver will be anything _but_ happy about it." Charlie smiled, deciding not to show her the diamond door handle he had in his pocket, nor the handful of coins from the floor in the other. He'd enjoy surprising her later.

Before anyone could say anything more though, the rush of water was heard again. The trio gasped as the water started pouring again, rising swiftly to their toes.

"Time to go!" Taver said, turning and running back up the tunnel. Jasmine and Charlie followed hand in hand, trying to outrun the swiftly flowing water. Taver led the way, following the lights which were once again leading the way out.

The trip to the exit was much quicker than the walk down, but they were all exhausted by the time they reached the brick wall. The water stopped just short of it, seeming to hiss angrily at them. Jasmine gave it a salute.

"And good riddance to you too." She said, climbing back onto the street.

By the time they'd made it back to the café, Jasmine was practically sleepwalking and Taver was complaining about the heavy stone. It was small, but much heavier than one would expect by looking at it. He finally dropped it on the coffee table in the living room, the loud thump waking up Silver who was asleep in the large armchair there.

"What? What is it?" he asked in a panic, his cyborg arm spinning to a gun.

"There's your treasure." Taver said with a sigh. "I'm going to bed." He turned to leave and Jasmine sighed, Silver just stared at the rock in confusion.

"That's Flint's secret treasure? A rock?"

"Well, there was a lot more, but…you know Flint." Charlie pointed out as he sat down. Silver sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Aye, that I do. A trap I'm guessing?"

"Yes…but we got the most valuable thing in his secret trove." Jasmine said, looking pointedly at the rock.

"You're kidding." Silver said bluntly, watching as Charlie set the notebook down as well. "A rock and book?" Charlie smiled softly.

"No…the largest piece of Ravite currently known to man, and all of Flint's information on where he found it."

Silver's eyes lit up and he sat back in wonder. "Oh glory…" he breathed. "I'd have to say that's a perfectly good substitute."

"This may be the ending of one adventure…but it's the beginning of another." Lady said as she came into the room. She brushed a wrinkled finger along the rock, smiling as it lit up. "This is about to change everything."

She glanced at the two teens and chuckled, seeing they were both fast asleep in each other's arms.

"Though maybe for another day."

Silver looked at her curiously. "Do you know something about this?" Lady only smiled mysteriously.

"Let's just say…it's a whole other story."

* * *

_That's it! The end! Woohoo!! It only took me what, 2 years to get this thing up? ^^;_

_Well, in case you didn't notice, this whole Ravite thing is setting up for a whole new story. A story i'm already well into and working on as I type! Or will be once this is posted ^^_

_Don't worry, I will post a note on this story to let you know about part 3! I'm really excited about it, it's soo much more exciting than this story!! Though just so you know for now, the next part is called 'Earth Tones' and features Taver as the main character :)  
_

_Please review, and thanks for reading this whole thing!!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


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